They fought in the breakers , they fought in the sand , and they fought on the smooth-worn basalt rocks of the nurseries , for they were just as stupid and unaccommodating as men . Their wives never came to the island until late in May or early in June , for they did not care to be torn to pieces ; and the young two - , three - , and four-year-old seals who had not begun housekeeping went inland about half a mile through the ranks of the fighters and played about on the sand dunes in droves and legions , and rubbed off every single green thing that grew . They were called the holluschickie -- the bachelors -- and there were perhaps two or three hundred thousand of them at Novastoshnah alone . Sea Catch had just finished his forty-fifth fight one spring when Matkah , his soft , sleek , gentle-eyed wife , came up out of the sea , and he caught her by the scruff of the neck and dumped her down on his reservation , saying gruffly : `` Late as usual . Where have you been ? '' It was not the fashion for Sea Catch to eat anything during the four months he stayed on the beaches , and so his temper was generally bad . Matkah knew better than to answer back . She looked round and cooed : `` How thoughtful of you . You 've taken the old place again . '' `` I should think I had , '' said Sea Catch . `` Look at me ! '' He was scratched and bleeding in twenty places ; one eye was almost out , and his sides were torn to ribbons . `` Oh , you men , you men ! '' Matkah said , fanning herself with her hind flipper . `` Why ca n't you be sensible and settle your places quietly ? You look as though you had been fighting with the Killer Whale . '' `` I have n't been doing anything but fight since the middle of May . The beach is disgracefully crowded this season . I 've met at least a hundred seals from Lukannon Beach , house hunting . Why ca n't people stay where they belong ? ''
`` I 've often thought we should be much happier if we hauled out at Otter Island instead of this crowded place , '' said XXXXX .
Beach Matkah Novastoshnah Whale basalt flipper forty-fifth four-year-old holluschickie scruff