76 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
lively now and made a furious resistance when Abraham Badaef made an attempt to grab it by the 
hind legs. This he had to be very careful about, for a bite of even sirch a little fellow — probably not 
so very many weeks old — miglit be serious enough ; but ho tinally succeeded and carried the pup off to 
the beach, where it was left to take care of itself. 
I watched the handling of the seals very carefully in order to ascertain the amount of injury 
they might receive during the affair. The natives were certainly not very j)articular, mnch less so 
than those on St. I’aul Island when Mr. True, Mr. Stanley-Brown, and the Treasury agent were 
observing them, Imt I can not say that I was much impressed with the severity of the hurt that could 
have been iullicted. The animals are as soft and pliable as cats, and while there is a good deal of 
excitement, even panic', and the wildest possible scramble one over the other, none of them seemed to 
mind it in the least. The whole mass of more than a dozen females would occasionally be piled up on 
top of a little mite of a pup, but he would immediately pick himself up uimn being released and 
plunge into the seething mass with renewed vigor. The scramble was very suggestive of a game of 
football, and I feel certain that the seals were less injured externally and internally than the average 
football player; and as for the exertion, excitement, and fright of the drive having any intluence upon 
the procreative powers of the bulls, as well might it be asserted that the football players impair their 
virility and render themselves impotent by playing the game. 
Many incidents inight be quoted to show how little the seals mind the drive and 
how soon they forget its hardships. On Bering Island I have repeatedly observed 
half-bulls iu a drive trying to mount females in heat during intervals of rest. Another 
observation is so highly interesting in tnany ways that I quote it from my diary of 
July 15, 1895, North Eoohery, Bering Island, as follows: 
This evenijig I made a very suggestive observation. 'While working along the escarpment just 
west of the salt-house, 1 came across a small Hock of seals left over from yesterday’s drive. They had not 
returned to the sea, but had located on the very extreme northern point of the escarpment, a consider- 
able distance from the rookery [about 250 yards] and 30 feet above the sea. I was quite surprised at 
finding the flock to be a '‘harem” consisting of 1 bull and about 20 females. I could not count 
their number exactly, as I did not want to disturb them, but there were about 20 females, and I heard 
at least 1 pup, though I did not see it. I took up my 2 )osition some distance off and watched them. 
Several of the females were iu heat and were alternately teasing the bull, getting him by the throat, 
but he was kept too busy running around trying to keei> the harem together, as some of the females 
were evidently anxious to return to the rookery. He, on the other hand, was plainly well satisfied 
with the location and intended to hold it. '* * * Now, these animals were driven yesterday and 
not let go until after they had reached the killing-grounds [only 220 yards away from their present 
iocation]. In view of the above observation, it seems absurd to assume that the driving had injured 
them iu the least. Nor can this bull be accused of sleepiness — yet bulls are few on the rookery — for 
he was kept very busy indeed. 
His vigilance did liiui no good, however, for the females escaped to the rookery 
dnrifig the night, and the place was entirely deserted when I visited it next morning. 
It is certainly very significant that on Bering Ishifid over a thousand jiups are 
yearly drivefi to the killing-ground, there to be released, without any visible harm 
coming to them worth mefitioniiig. If these newly born seals can stand to be driven 
tliree-fourths of a mile from Kishotchnaya and to be repeatedly trampled upon by 
the larger ones xhlifig up four high, or more, on top of them, it stands to reason that 
the vigorous holustiaki — or even the females — as a tvhole can suffer but little injury 
from tlie same cause. 
Before leavifigthis subject it may be well to recall the following points: 
On Bering Island the drives are easy, while on Ooifper Ishiud they are exceed- 
ifigly severe. Yet on Copper Island the bulls and half-bulls are plentiful, while on 
Bering Island they are comparatively scarce. The severity of the driving, therefore, 
does not seem to bear any relation to the relative plenty or scarcity of mature bulls 
on the rookeries. 
