CHAPTER II.

II.--THE SEA LION FAMILY (OTARIIDÆ).

Various Names--Peculiarities of Distribution--Characteristics of the Family--Dentition--Skull--Fossil Remains--Distinction between Fur and Hair Seals--Preparation of the Seal-skin--THE NORTHERN FUR SEAL--History--The Pribyloff Islands--Male, Female, Young--“Hauling-grounds”--Wintering--Males at the Islands in Spring--Desperate Battles for Seaward Positions--Approach of the Females--Struggles for Wives--The Young--Abstinence from Food, Water, and Sleep for more than Two Months--Neutral Ground in the “Rookeries”--Habits of the Young--Food--Annual Slaughter--Estimated Numbers--Mode of Killing--STELLER’S SEA LION--GILLIESPIE’S HAIR SEAL--HOOKER’S SEA BEAR--The Wreck of the _Grafton_--Musgrave’s Narrative--Sufferings of the Castaways--Their Experiences among the Sea Bears--THE WHITE-NECKED OTARY--Distribution--Description--“Counsellor Seal”--THE PATAGONIAN SEA LION--Historical Associations--Impetus to the Study of the Family--François Lecomte--Its Docility and Intelligence--Its various Performances--Voracity--Lecomte’s Observations--Habits--THE FALKLAND ISLAND FUR SEAL--Habitat--The Hunters’ Boats--Driven from their Haunts--Captain Weddell’s Observations--Great Wariness and Speed--Size--Habits--THE SOUTH AFRICAN, OR CAPE FUR SEAL--THE NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL--THE ASH-COLOURED OTARY--Peron’s Services to Science.

The old voyagers have termed, and the present race of sealers know, members of the Otary family by such names as Sea Lion, Sea Leopard, Sea Bear, Sea Wolf, Sea Dog, &c., and these terms have even passed from seamen to science. The Otariidæ, like the Common Seals, are found both in the northern and southern hemispheres, but it is a remarkable fact that the species (some would even say genera) inhabiting the northern and southern regions are perfectly distinct the one from the other. Nay more, the one seems representative of the other. For example, there are a certain number of Fur-bearing Seals, and a certain number of Hair Seals, distributed over a wide area of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, which, in either case, are spread hither and thither into more temperate latitudes. Indeed, the most recent observations tend to show that these animals are migratory in habit, and frequent certain given localities at regular intervals.

Much confusion for a long time reigned concerning the species of the Sea Lions. This difficulty has arisen from several reasons. Sealers have long distinguished the two kinds, namely, Fur Seals and Hair Seals; but among the thousands and thousands of skins annually brought home, little attention was paid to the animal from which the different skins were obtained, other than to its mere market value. While skins, and occasionally skulls or skeletons, found their way into our museums, seldom have these specimens been certified as belonging to one and the same individual; and in other cases they have been so mixed that identification has been little short of a riddle. Failing precision with regard to skins and skulls, the anatomists have been too prone to found genera and species on imperfect data, ignoring differences of sex, age, and the like, and thus many technical divisions have been introduced which we hardly think it worth while here rigidly to follow.

The family Otariidæ, or Eared Seals, was distinguished, and so named by the French naturalist M. Péron early in this century, from the animals of this section possessing a small scroll-like external ear, an appendage wanting in the Seals generally. They moreover differ from the latter, and resemble the Walrus, inasmuch as they can freely progress on all-fours on land. Their skull is somewhat Bear-like, the neck being long. The fore-limbs, set well back, are tolerably free, and rest on a thin, broad, but flat hand of great size, encased in a leathery-like substance. The thumb is remarkably stout, and far exceeds the other fingers in length, and on all the merest indications of nails are present. Each finger is tipped with a long spatular cartilage, as are the toes of the hind feet, thus giving them great flexibility. The hind limbs are not so loosely attached by the tail membrane as in the Walrus, and the short tail is apparent close to the heels. The great toe is by far the longest and strongest, size diminishing from this to the little toe. As a rule, this family are nimbler on land than is the Walrus family, though both walk flat-footed in a somewhat similar fashion. The gait of the Otaries, however, from the slightly greater restraint of their closer-linked hind quarters and legs, and from the lengthening of their fore-flippers, is ridiculously peculiar. The fore-flippers, as Mr. Frank Buckland drolly observes, remind one of Bob Ridley’s shoes in a nigger performance. From the wrist they flop, flop, in a semicircle as right and left foot is alternately raised, while the hind quarters hitch, hitch, as each hind foot comes wobble, wobble, under the belly, the great toes even overlapping the fore-flipper. The Sea Lions have long, stout, exceedingly mobile whiskers, though these are by no means so profuse, thick-set, or strong as in the Walrus. Their skeletons differ from the latter in several particulars of minor importance, the chief distinctions being in the skull and dentition. There are on each side three incisors in the upper jaw, and two in the lower. The middle ones are smallest, the upper outer ones more often very large. The canines are still larger, and recurved; but though powerful, not to be compared with the great tusks of the Morse. There are more commonly five teeth of the molar series, of which the crowns are bluntly conical, and the roots simple. The milk-teeth are mostly shed before birth. The dental formula of the Otariidæ may be represented thus:--Incisors, (3-3)/(2-2); canines, (1-1)/(1-1); premolars, (4-4)/(4-4); molars, (2-2)/(1-1) = 36. The fore part of the skull is not so swollen out and abrupt as in the Walrus, the smaller size of the canines not requiring such space. In youth the skull is long, low, and flat, but in the old males there arise bony crests and processes, altering the shape, especially behind, so that recognition of the species is even difficult.

As the habits of the family of the Eared Seals are in the main very similar, and seeing how difficult it is from mere outward inspection to tell one species from the other, it seems advisable to follow Mr. J. W. Clark’s mode of treatment, and consider all under the single genus _Otaria_, though incidentally allusion will be made to such forms as are indicative of generic distinction.

We have in passing mentioned two kinds, namely, Fur and Hair Seals, and we have also stated that these Eared Seals are not confined to one hemisphere, but equally inhabit northern and southern regions. Taking these facts into account we submit the following table as a kind of provisional arrangement for the reader, that he may carry away a notion of what may be termed a combination of commercial and geographical divisions.

_Northern._ _Southern._ } { THE FALKLAND ISLAND FUR SEAL. } { THE SOUTH AFRICAN, OR CAPE THE NORTHERN FUR SEAL.} FUR SEALS. { FUR SEAL. } { THE NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL. } { THE ASH-COLOURED OTARY.

STELLER’S SEA LION. } { HOOKER’S SEA BEAR. GILLIESPIE’S HAIR SEAL.} HAIR SEALS. { WHITE-NECKED OTARY. { THE PATAGONIAN SEA LION.

Thus eliminating doubtful forms, or such as naturalists are not unanimous upon, there are, so to say, some ten well-marked species of Otaries, whereof five belong to the so-called Fur, and five to the so-called Hair Seals. In the northern region there are but three peculiar to the West American coasts, &c., whereas seven inhabit the southern region. These latter range over a wide area, from warmer latitudes to the frigid zone. But it is very remarkable that in the whole of the Northern Atlantic none of the Sea Lions are now to be found. It is, however, noteworthy that in the neighbourhood of Antwerp, Professor P. J. Van Beneden has described some few fragmentary remains of a Seal allied to _Otaria_, which he has named _Mesotaria ambigua_. These fossil bones, along with numerous other remains of Pinnipedia and Cetacea, have been dug out of the upper Tertiary strata of Flanders.

As regards the precise geographical distribution, this will be referred to in connection with the species themselves. The absolute distinction between Hair and Fur Seals is one rather of degree than of kind, for as we have before hinted, all the family possess, at least in their early condition, evidence of under-fur, sparse or otherwise. But undoubtedly as age advances in some kinds it is very abundant, in others quite the reverse. Hence this character, though so apparent in some cases, is not one thoroughly to be relied on so far as zoological divisions are concerned, though very considerable stress has been laid upon it by some writers. So far as the skin is looked on as a mercantile commodity it unquestionably is a most useful mode of division, but a classification founded thereon must be taken with the accustomed “grain of salt.”

If we look at a lady’s Seal-skin jacket, we at once observe its rich brown colour, and the velvety softness and denseness of the fine hairs composing it. If this be compared with the coarse, hard, or salted dry Seal-skin as imported, or, still better, with the coat of the living Fur Seals, one is struck with the vast difference between them, and wonders how the coarse or oily-looking, close-pressed hair of the live animal can ever be transformed into the rich and costly garment above spoken of. Passing our finger among the hairs of the Cat or Dog, we may notice short fine hairs at the roots of the longer, coarser, general covering of the animal. This is the so-called under-fur. It equally obtains in most of the land as in the aquatic Carnivora. But in the greater number of these animals the short hairs are so few and often fine as to be comparatively speaking lost sight of among what to our eyes constitutes the coat. The remarkable feature, then, in the Fur Seals is its abundance and density. The operation which the skin undergoes to bring out, so to say, the fur may be briefly described as follows:--The skin, after being washed rid of grease, &c., is laid flat on the stretch, flesh side up. A flat knife is then passed across the flesh substance, thinning it to a very considerable extent. In doing this the blade severs the roots of the long strong hairs which penetrate the skin deeper than does the soft delicate under-fur. The rough hairs are then got rid of, while the fur retains its hold. A variety of subsidiary manipulations, in which the _pelt_ is softened and preserved. are next gone through. These we need not enter into, but only further state that the fur undergoes a process of dyeing which produces that deep uniform tint so well known and admired. We may, however, mention that it is the dyeing process which causes the fur to lose its natural curly character and to present its limp appearance.

THE NORTHERN FUR SEAL.[209]--The habits and life history of this animal are probably more accurately known than those of any other of the Eared Seals. Fully a hundred and twenty years ago Steller, a naturalist in the employ of the Russian Government, spent a season in Kamstchatka and the islands in the neighbourhood of Behring Strait. During his sojourn he carefully studied the habits and anatomy of an animal termed by him Sea Bear, which existed in innumerable quantities in the region in question, publishing the results of his observations in the “Transactions” of the St. Petersburg Academy. A missionary, Krasheninikoff by name, some years later, under the title of Sea Cat, also gave an account of the same animal, but possibly deriving his information from the preceding writer. For a long period little was added to their narratives. In 1868 the Russian Government ceded to the United States the territory of Alaska, including several of the Aleutian Islands, and among others the Pribyloff group. These latter are remarkable and important, inasmuch as they are the resort of literally myriads of Seals, some of which are exceedingly valuable for their fur. A Captain Pribyloff had discovered the small island which bears his name in 1786, and thereafter a Russian company established themselves, carrying on an extensive trade in skins and oils up to the date of cession. The Russian Bishop Veniaminov, in 1840, gave an account of the Seals of the Pribyloff group, containing a statistical table of their probable numbers and evident decrease unless measures were taken to prevent their wholesale extermination.

The American Government wisely appointed agents, the result being reports by Captain C. Bryant and Mr. H. W. Elliott, which contained wonderfully graphic histories and descriptions of this Fur Seal and others of the group. To these gentlemen’s reports we are chiefly indebted, and do not hesitate to abstract without stint.

The “Kautickie” is the name given by the Russians to this Fur Seal. It repairs to the Pribyloff Islands to breed in almost fabulous numbers, between the beginning of May and the middle of September, some few stragglers occasionally remaining even to the close of December; but between the beginning of June and end of September, they remain on the islands in grand force. The haunts of these creatures during the winter season, after leaving the islands, are doubtful; but it is supposed that they take up quarters by a southward migration to the Pacific coasts of the United States. At all events, it is known that in the stomachs of the voracious Killer-Whales and Sharks the remains of these and other species of Seal are not unfrequently obtained by the whalers in the region in question; and likewise the Indians of the North-west American coast, as low as California, then capture them in numbers.

The males, when full-grown, are between six and seven feet long, the females not being over four to four feet and a half in length, from head to tail. The former will weigh between four to six hundred pounds, the latter scarcely reaching one hundred pounds, but oftener eighty or less. The male, with a greyish shoulder, has the rest of the body varying from a reddish-grey to deep, almost pure, black; the nose and lips are brownish; the breast and abdomen with more of an orange and reddish-brown tint; the naked parts of the hind limbs are much blacker. The female is considerably lighter, being nearly uniform grey above, and brownish-grey on the sides. The young, previous to the first moult, is uniformly glossy black, with a yellowish-brown tint on the under parts. As it grows older, it becomes gradually lighter, especially in the females, and the two sexes then can hardly be distinguished. The distinction even in the young animal between the long, coarse hairs of the outer coat, and the dense silky fur of the inner coat, is very marked. There is occasionally some variation in the colour of the sexes, both as regards age and otherwise, but the above is that most common. The male of this Fur Seal does not attain its full size until about the sixth year, although it breeds at the fourth year. The females bear their first young when three years of age. The breeding-ground, or “rookery,” as the colony of the Seals is termed, lies among the belt of loose rocks along the shores, between high-water line and the base of the cliffs, and varies in width from 60 to 150 feet. There are, besides, sand-beaches of large extent, and these stretch more inland to grassy hillocks; the said areas are used as temporary resting-places, playgrounds, and neutral territory, where young, old, and infirm or wounded may resort to undisturbed. To these sandy beaches and uplands the term “Hauling-grounds” is given, from the manner in which the Seals drag themselves out of the water in going towards them.

From whatever reason, the adult males seem to leave the herd and betake themselves to the Pribyloff Islands in the spring months, when, in the first few days of May, they make their appearance, and in a suspicious, doubtful manner swim idly about, apparently reluctant to land. Soon, however, the older “bulls” approach the loose rocky shore, and commence to locate themselves. Each individual animal takes possession of a piece of ground about ten feet square, and, as those fresh from the sea approach, there begins a series of battles as to which is to retain the ground first occupied. All during the month of May, and even to the first week of June, this terrible warfare proceeds incessantly, and those next the water have to resist all comers, or themselves be forced farther back. Meantime, from the beginning till almost towards the end of June, the pregnant females make their appearance, first in small numbers, until the great body arrive in mass at the close of the month. Each male retains his position as best he can, whilst some of the females hesitate to land, calling out as if in search of some particular mate. The males coaxingly strive to inveigle them ashore, and no sooner do the females approach than they are laid hold of, and a general warfare among the whole “rookery” ensues. The quiet, unoffending, small-sized females are subjected to dreadful usage. The strong and powerful males secure, where possible, from twelve to fifteen partners in their seraglio, but to retain these is indeed a most serious business. Day and night the males, who have never left their station for at least six weeks, have still to keep watch and ward over their accommodating spouses, the only sense of _meum_ and _tuum_ being force. If the master of the harem dare for a moment to doze, down comes his more wideawake neighbour from behind, to obtain by foul means what he cannot obtain by fair; or some slippery partner, desirous of change, seeks to escape the bondage of her lord. Then ensues internecine and domestic strife, in which all the neighbouring males join, whenever there is a chance of capturing a coveted female. The poor wives suffer equally with their spouses--trampled, bitten, and dashed about. It results that he alone keeps who has the power to withstand his numerous assailants. Some of the females may have the fortune to get more comfortably settled than others, which are bandied from one location to another, until most of the males obtain a few partners, the lucky ones in front securing and holding the greatest number, those behind being obliged to content themselves with half-a-dozen or thereabouts.

A few days only have elapsed, and matters settled down more quietly, when the females give birth each to a single one. The little fellows soon find their voice--a kind of bleat like a young lamb’s,--begin paddling about, and then suckle. They gorge themselves heartily with the rich creamy milk. But, strange to say, the mother seems remarkably indifferent to her offspring; and, if it stray beyond the limits of the family group, it may be abducted by the other Seals for all that she cares.

About this time, many of the old males who have successfully held their position become exhausted, and now and again the less fortunate or single males behind, in stronger or fresher condition, drive the former from their posts, and the latter take their places. There is no wonder that exhaustion succeeds. Indeed, one of the most remarkable features in the history of these Sea Lions is that for two months and more these heroic males, that arrived fat and plump from their winter quarters, have held their positions on land against all comers, and this without tasting food, water, or almost sleep during this period. It seems scarcely credible that animals incessantly on the watch, excited and bearing the brunt of sanguinary contests, should be able to undergo starvation under such circumstances. This fact is almost unique in natural history; for, though hibernation for long periods is common to the Bear, Hedgehog, &c., their winter sleep is accompanied by cessation of all bodily exertion, and the functions of circulation, respiration, and digestion are comparatively at a standstill. In truth, how this and other species of Otaria, for the habit is not limited to the Fur Seal, endure such a lengthened abstinence, physiology fails to explain.

While the families, in groups as afore mentioned, with their dominate lords, hold the favourite grounds, the great mass of the younger members of the community are not thoroughly excluded from the domains of the “rookery.” By common consent, here and there long narrow lanes of neutral ground are left open from the beach upwards, and along these continually pass to and fro the non-breeding animals. These go to the rear, where they pack themselves in a kind of general medley, their gregarious nature leading them there to swarm.

The young animals in the beginning of August begin to take to the water, with which they soon become familiar, frolicking about, and returning like lazy Dogs to sleep after their exertions. They grow fast, and gathering in squads swarm over the whole “rookery.” The colony now begins to break up from the family-parties first instituted. Some besport themselves, or possibly feed in the neighbourhood; others range on the sandy and grassy uplands, in groups of hundreds to thousands, and seem to play and enjoy themselves in a rollicking, lively manner. Their gambolling is very good-natured, then seldom quarrelling. They appear to delight in dashing through the breakers, and “hauling up” on the surf-beaten shore. In dull, foggy weather, they crowd close together in myriads, and a bright, warm day sends them off quickly to the water, seemingly to avoid heat.

What they live on during all this period it is difficult to state, for the fish round the island appear to be driven off on the arrival of the Sea Lions. They, nevertheless, subsist and thrive. In the stomachs of most of the older animals several pounds’ weight of pebbles are usually found.

At one time 100,000 young males were killed annually, the females not being interfered with. This will show how enormous the number of Seals on these islands was. But the slaughter has not always been wisely regulated. When the Russian American Company first hunted, up till 1837, they ran great danger of exterminating all, killing every animal regardless of sex; and complications have occasionally arisen between the United States and Great Britain about the right of fishery, the former Government being desirous of preventing the extinction of the Seals, and on that account claiming a wide jurisdiction in the Behring Sea. Mr. Elliott, by roughly numbering the animals in a family group, and estimating the given area of the “rookeries” when the greatest mass are on shore, calculated the total numbers at between four and five millions.

The killing of these Seals is quite a peculiar occupation of the islanders. After the breeding season, the hunters take advantage of the dull and foggy weather, and creep down between the herd and the water. Then suddenly rising and shouting together they drive landwards the affrighted animals, though many of course escape. Closing on them, they allow the females and the very old males by degrees to pass, and then drive the remainder at a slow rate towards the killing-ground, some distance off. Watchers remain over night with them, and in the morning, when the Seals have rested and cooled down, the work of slaughter begins. Squads of forty or fifty are separated, and the islanders then surround these in a body, the animals meantime huddling together and treading over each other’s flippers, cannot well attack or defend themselves, and they are then clubbed by blows on the head. While this bloody process is going on, a number of the men dexterously skin the animals, and others look after the blubber, and such parts as are useful for food and other purposes.

STELLER’S SEA LION,[210] OR THE HAIR SEAL OF THE PRIBYLOFFS, is an animal in some respects not unlike the Fur Seal originally described by the aforesaid Russian naturalist. But it is a much more powerful animal, and though in contiguity to its congener originally named by this author Sea Bear, it differs in habits as well as in other particulars, besides the broad fact of its possessing such sparse, and, when old, such absence of under-wool that it comes to be classed as a true Hair Seal. The male and female animal are of unequal size; the former attains a bodily length of eleven or twelve feet, and a weight of 1,000 lbs. and more, while the latter is barely more than half the dimensions and weight of her partner. The male has quite a leonine appearance and bearing, and often exhibits great ferocity of expression. His colour is of a golden rufous tint, darker behind, or occasionally with brownish patches, the limbs more nearly approaching black. Some variation occurs with regard to the brindling and hue generally, the female being slightly paler than the male.

Their movements on land, though in many respects similar to, are not so free as those of the Fur Seal, and never are they found far from the water. Some of them herd along with the Fur Seals, their powerful organisation enabling them to hold and retain the shore locations. They, however, congregate in breeding-grounds slightly apart. While polygamous, they have not the regular system, nor give such attention to their harem as does the _Callorhinus_. In comparison with the latter, their numbers on the Pribyloffs are not great, in all between thirty and forty thousand. They are shy creatures, and, as Elliott remarks, on the slightest approach of man, a stampede into the water is the certain result.

Their voice is said to be a deep and grand roar, and when in mass has been likened to the howling of a tempest. The males come to these islands in the beginning of May, and the females a month later. The young are soon born, and at birth average twenty to twenty-five pounds, and two feet long, and then are of a dark chocolate-brown colour, with great watery grey-blue eyes. They shed their coat in October and become lighter, but do not precisely resemble their parents until they grow more adult.

This animal being destitute of fur, its skin is of little value; but their hides, their fat, their flesh, their sinews, and intestines, are all useful to the Aleutian islanders. The last, the throat-linings, and the skin of the flippers, are tanned into excellent leather, and both waterproof coats and the natives’ boots (_tarbosars_) are made out of them. Oil-vessels are made from the stomachs, the sinews are used for threads for binding their skin-canoes, and to the flesh of this species there is given a decided preference.

Steller’s Sea Lion has a wider distribution, probably, than _O. ursina_, and stretches around Kamstchatka and the Asiatic coast to the Kurile Islands. Moreover, on the American coast as far as California they are occasionally met with. Indeed, one of the sights at San Francisco is the “Ocean House,” a large hotel opposite the Seal Rocks at the mouth of the bay, whence a good view is obtained of a “rookery” of Sea Lions, now rigidly preserved by the American Government. They also inhabit the Farallone Islands about thirty miles from San Francisco.

The natives of Kamstchatka, to the coast of Siberia, capture the Sea Lions differently from the Pribyloff Islanders. In the summer months, Salmon swarm at the mouths of the rivers, the Seals following and preying on them. Strong wide-meshed nets, made of Seal-thong, are staked in a curve open to the confluence of the stream. The fish find a free passage, but the pursuing Seals become entangled, and the natives in flat-bottomed skin-boats approach and despatch the victims with rude bone implements. In the spring and fall they capture them on the floating ice, and during winter watch for their rising out of their breathing-holes to rest awhile, while the hunter deals destruction from behind a snow-bank or ice-cake. These natives convert the prepared hide for the Dog and Reindeer sledges and other purposes, and the blubber is a godsend.

GILLIESPIE’S HAIR SEAL,[211] OR SCHLEGEL’S JAPANESE OTARY.--This animal also inhabits the bays and islands of the Californian coast, but the first good account of it came from the pen of Professor Schlegel, of Leyden, in his “Fauna Japonica,” though, curiously enough, he confounded it with Steller’s Sea Lion. It undoubtedly frequents the Japanese coasts, and, possibly, other spots in the North Pacific. Dr. Macbain, in describing a skull from California, showed its specific distinction. Indeed, from its having one pair less of upper molars, a narrow muzzle and facial profile, and great skull-crest, it has been placed by Gill and others in a separate genus (_Zalophus_). But as before indicated, we prefer to consider the whole of these Sea Lions as belonging to Otaria. The colour of this animal much resembles that of the last, or slightly more of a pale brownish-grey, underneath yellowish, but also darker in the limbs. The sexes approach each other in this respect. It is smaller in size than _O. Stelleri_, the largest known male being little over six feet long, and the female relatively smaller.

HOOKER’S SEA BEAR.[212]--Among the collection obtained during the eventful voyage, under Captain Sir J. C. Ross, in the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ to the Antarctic regions, were the skin and skeleton of a Sea Bear from the Auckland Islands, which Dr. Gray named after the celebrated botanist of the Expedition, Dr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph D. Hooker. No account of the life-history of the animal accompanied these remains, but the narrow skull, deeply concave palate-bones, and other osteological features, clearly showed its specific distinction. The precise geographical distribution of this Sea Bear thereafter became a knotty point, and from general outward resemblance of the Otary tribe one to the other it has been confounded with several of them. The investigations of Mr. J. W. Clark of Cambridge, however, set this at rest, and without enlarging into particulars, we shall briefly say that he has shown that besides the English voyagers, the French Expedition in the _Astrolabe_ (1826-29), and Captain Thomas Musgrave (of whom I shall say something immediately), obtained it at the Aucklands. Moreover, the French, in their last Transit of Venus Expedition--to Campbell Islands--there met with it, and Mr. Clark identified it with a sub-fossil form found by Dr. Hector on the coast of New Zealand.

The original specimens of this Hair Seal in the British Museum are throughout of a darkish grey, inclining to yellow, or yellowish-brown, and what appears to be the male is about five feet long, while the female is smaller and yellower in colour.

The little that we know of the habits of this creature is chiefly derived from Captain Musgrave’s extraordinary narrative, “Castaway on the Auckland Islands.” In 1863, the schooner _Grafton_, of Sydney, was wrecked on the islands in question, where captain and crew were condemned to reside for twenty months. His journal of their sufferings on these desolate rocks was written in Seal’s blood, and the editor of the gallant captain’s narrative appropriately quotes worthy old Richard Hakluyt’s words:--“How shall I admire your heroicke courage, ye marine worthies beyond all names of worthinesse!”

Before the distressed seamen had been a week on shore, the captain notes “that the Seals are very numerous here, and go roaring about the woods like wild cattle; indeed, we expect they will come and storm the tent some night.” They found the sucklings delicious eating, exactly like lamb, but the flesh of the old males was rejected. Indeed, stewed, boiled, or roasted Seal’s flesh and liver, with roots fried in oil, and occasionally mussels and fish, constituted dainties; for it happened at times they were driven to extremities for lack of fare. For a while a few crumbs of biscuit were regularly laid on the table, but only to look at, “or point at,” as Paddy would say. On a single occasion they obtained the milk of a slain female, which they considered to be rich and good, and superior to Goats’ milk. Needful of clothing, blankets, and shoes, by a rude manipulation with lye of ashes, drying and rubbing, and by tanning with bark, the skins were thus rendered available. Seals’ tracks were found at the top of a mountain four miles from the water. They run fast in the bush, and where it is thick have an advantage over men, even climbing rocky cliffs and steep slippery banks almost inaccessible to the latter. Captain Musgrave believes their sense of smell to be very keen, but neither hearing nor sight acute on land. The old “bulls” have long, coarse, almost bristly fur on their neck and shoulders, which ruffles up when attacked, and this, with their great teeth, gives them rather a formidable leonine appearance. These “bulls” are savage, and so fierce that caution is required in facing them; they even are so bold as to leave the water and chase a man. One great and very old dark-coloured fellow, “king of a mob,” was christened “Royal Tom,” whose daring and dignity would barely allow him to move off when driven hard. On board the vessel which rescued the castaway survivors was a very large courageous Dog, which would fasten on the Otaries, but get dreadfully torn, and was no match in point of strength. Their tenacity of life is extraordinary. For instance, one received two bullets, had its head split open with an axe, and brain hanging out, but nevertheless dragged along the beach the men who were trying to keep him out of the water by hanging on his hind flippers. The males arrive in October, fat, choose ground, fight furiously, and remain until the end of February. The females go with young about eleven months, and bear a single offspring in February; but previous to parturition, in December and January, the smaller timid females wander in the bush bellowing in a dismal manner. The new-born young are black, become greyer after a few weeks, and when older brownish, the adult colouring following. Musgrave recounts the amusing manner in which the mother coaxes the young towards the water, which at first it is averse to enter, and she often displays ingenuity in getting it in. She puts it on her back, swims along gently, while the little bleating fellow slips or splutters off into the sea; the mother again gets underneath, or even becoming angry, gives it a cruel bite or slap with flipper. Ultimately, after such drilling, the youngsters take to the water of their own accord, and paddle about or play on shore in groups. There is a periodical migration of these Hooker’s Sea Bears, but it is not so regular as in some other species, several remaining in the same quarters all the year round. They shift their camp, though, in the bays, and sleep ashore only at night. When in the water Captain Musgrave assures us their speed is very great, not exceeding twenty miles an hour, and they have a most extraordinary power of arresting their progress instantaneously.

WHITE-NECKED OTARY,[213] OR AUSTRALIAN SEA LION.--Under these two names, and those of the Counsellor Seal, the Cowled Seal, and Gray’s Australian Hair Seal, has the Sea Lion been called which inhabits the shores of Australia. Two localities are specially noted--Houtman’s Abrolhos and King George’s Sound, on the west and south-western parts of the continent--though Mr. Scott mentions that this species was formerly very abundant in Bass’s Strait, as also on the north-west coast of Australia, and that it is still found tolerably numerous on the Seal Rocks off Port Stephens, a short distance north of Sydney. Very old males of this animal are stated to attain a length of twelve feet, and to be as large in girth as a Horse, but adults from eight to nine feet long are more commonly met with, the females being still smaller. Mr. J. W. Clark deftly catches the salient points as follows:--“The adult has the face, front, and sides of the neck, all the under surface, sides, and back, dark or blackish-brown, passing into dark slaty grey on the extremities of the limbs; the hinder half of the crown, the nape and back of the neck, rich deep fawn-colour. It is the peculiar shape of this stripe of light colour stretching over head and neck which has given it the name of ‘Cowled Seal,’ and perhaps the appellation ‘Counsellor Seal,’ which I find is also applied to it, may have been suggested from a fancied resemblance to a barrister in his wig.” The males and females differ in colour, the latter being lighter in tint. The white neck-spot, it is suggested, distinguishes the males. The “pups” are born black, and have an abundant coat of soft fur which diminishes with age, and in the old animal is entirely wanting. The skins, therefore, are of no great value, but as a commercial product the oil is of more importance.

THE PATAGONIAN SEA LION,[214] OR COOK’S OTARY.--Magellan, after whom the Strait dividing Tierra del Fuego from Patagonia is called, in his eventful voyage (1520) found, off the Rio de la Plata, what the Spaniards knew as a Sea Wolf (_Lobos de mar_), doubtless the Otary above named, for even in the present day the Government of Buenos Ayres protect the colony of Seals of one of the islands at which the celebrated navigator touched. Now these animals are scarce, and their range somewhat limited, but when the buccaneers carried fire and sword into the Spanish provinces they were of frequent occurrence, not only around Patagonia and the neighbouring islands, but up the Peruvian coast. Few of the voyagers that afterwards passed along these shores but had some slight adventure to relate concerning these creatures.

It was this animal that attracted the attention of Captain Cook and his naturalist, Forster, both describing it, the latter giving it the specific name of _jubata_, from the Latin _juba_ (a mane), a feature, however, that some naturalists of the present day are inclined to deny. But the fact is that at that date many exceedingly old, large, and rugged individuals of this species existed which are no longer to be met with.

Apart from the historical connections attaching to this creature, inasmuch as many famous voyagers’ names have been associated with it, in our own generation it is remarkable as that first brought alive to England. The individual in question was latterly purchased by the Zoological Society, and died in their Gardens in 1867, in consequence of having swallowed a fish-hook among the food given to it. This notable animal created an interest in the Eared Seals (hitherto little studied) which since has led to the introduction of several living examples and of different species. To those who only knew the Seal tribe from the common sort, this Otaria seemed a marvel of docility, and at a glance most distinct in appearance, habits, and intelligence from anything heretofore exhibited. It was originally captured in the neighbourhood of Cape Horn, and François Lecomte, the French sailor into whose possession it fell, exhibited the animal for a short time in Buenos Ayres before bringing it to London, where for a time he earned a living by showing it off. By kindness and dint of training he taught it to become quite a performer in its way, mounting a ladder with perfect ease, and descending indifferently, head or tail foremost. It fired a small cannon, and went through several other performances indicative of the teachableness of its disposition and the successful assiduity of its trainer. From being cribbed, cabined, and confined, the animal, on its transference to the Zoological Gardens, was allowed the use of a spacious pond, and along with others of the Seal tribe exhibited greater freedom and naturalness of habit. So well known have its appearance and little tricks of mounting chairs, catching with open mouth fish thrown towards it, kissing its keeper, and so on, become, that it is needless to enter upon a detailed account of these matters. There is no doubt, however, that this animal, and others of different species since shown at the Zoological Gardens, Brighton Aquarium, and elsewhere, have manifested traits of brain-power of a superior kind. One feature has struck all, namely, its voracity, twenty-five pounds of fish a day being barely more than short commons. If we estimate this amount to each individual, namely, an equivalent of 9,000 pounds a year, and remember that there exist colonies of these animals more than a million in number, the wonder arises that the finny tribe is not exterminated in those spots inhabited by the Seals.

The success accompanying the above animal’s exhibition led to the Zoological Society’s sending Lecomte to the Falklands to procure more. Although he obtained a number, most met mishaps and died before reaching London. His account of their habits and nature corroborates the earlier observers. According to him, families range from six to twenty, a dozen being the average, while a herd would be composed of several families. Located in the islands and isthmuses, an old male guards as sentinel, and signals, by a growl, approaching danger. Between sleeping and procuring food they pass their time, often lying huddled in a drowsy condition. At high tides, night and day, they take to fishing near the entrance of fresh-water rivulets into the sea, at such times remaining for a whole tide dabbling after fish and crustaceans. In capturing their prey, they swallow it above or below the water. The animal at the Zoological Gardens, as a rule, came to the surface to swallow, but the other Seals more often did so underneath. This Otaria, Lecomte affirms, never drinks water, that which he first brought to England not receiving fluid for a year, but he had seen the Common Seals suck water like a Horse. He certified to the fact of their pebble-swallowing propensities. The general habits of this animal are but a repetition of what has been said of other species, and need not detain us. The greater number migrate towards the south from July till November, between these months remaining in the neighbourhood of the Falklands. The young are of a deep chocolate colour, when a year old becoming paler, the females being nearly grey, the old male of a rich brown hue, the flippers in all being darker. There is a sparse under-wool in the young, which sensibly diminishes with age.

Captain Cook says he met with immense males, twelve or fourteen feet in length, and eight or ten in circumference. Such big customers now no longer exist, though the truth of what the circumnavigator asserts would seem to be substantiated by the fact of skulls of enormous size being found hither and thither, weather-worn, on the beach. These exhibit the remarkable peculiarity of prodigious crests, so that they have been compared with the characteristic change shown in the Gorilla, to which allusion has already been made (Vol. I., p. 17).

THE FALKLAND ISLAND FUR SEAL.[215]--The head-quarters for the capture of this valuable species of commercial Fur Seal are the Falkland Isles, and the South Shetlands within the Antarctic Circle, but it is also found on the coast of South America, namely, around Patagonia, Cape Horn, and the islands bordering Chili. It doubtless also betakes itself to several of the small southern oceanic islets, such as the New Orkneys, South Georgia, and indeed very possibly migrates to the ice-bound areas surrounding the Southern Pole. Captain Abbott, who was formerly resident on the Falklands, says that Seal skins and Seal oil are two of the principal products of these islands. The boats employed in collecting these articles “are usually from twenty to thirty tons in measurement, and are manned by four or five men. They are sent out laden with provisions, casks for the oil, and salt for preserving the Seal skins; they are frequently out for months together, cruising about the islands, and seldom return without a full cargo.” The favourite locality of this valuable Fur Seal at the Falklands is the Volunteer Rocks at the northern entrance to Berkeley Sound, these rocks, owing to the heavy swell, being inaccessible except in fine weather and after many days’ calm. The truth is the hunters have driven these animals nearly away from their old quarters, the few that still remain being excessively shy. The best, almost classical account of the habits of this species, is that of Captain Weddell, in his “Voyage towards the South Pole,” between 1818-1821. When he visited the South Shetlands, so little did they apprehend danger from man, that they lay quietly by while their neighbours were being killed and skinned. But, as he says, they soon acquired habits for counteracting danger, by placing themselves on rocks whence they precipitated themselves into the water. Their agility is very great, outstripping men running fast in pursuit. The absurd story of their throwing stones at their pursuers with their tails, Weddell accounts for by their awkward trailing gait, and in an attempt to scamper, scattering rocky fragments hither and thither behind them. He mentions their exceeding disproportion of size, the males, as in other species, being the more bulky, the latter being six to seven feet long, the females seldom more than four feet, and often less. He computed the females at about twenty to one male. They assemble gregariously on the coasts at different periods and in distinct classes. Like the Northern Fur Seals, the males separate and go ashore in November, where they await the arrival of the females. By December these latter begin to land, and the seraglio and system of battle resemble what has been described in the Fur Seal of the Pribyloff Islands. The period of gestation is about a twelvemonth, probably less, and the young are born in December. By the middle of February these latter, said to be taught to swim by their mothers, take to the water. At first they are black, a few weeks later become grey, and afterwards, as they frequent the sea, moult and acquire their peculiar furry coats. What the mariners call Dog Seals, that is, those a couple of years old, land in crowds as February terminates and March goes on. But by the end of April they once more make for the water, and scarcely land again until June wanes, then they occupy irregularly the land and water for several weeks. Towards the close of August the herds of young Seals of both sexes again return on shore for a few weeks, and retire ultimately to the water, to be succeeded by the old and more powerful males, as above stated. Excepting the difference of season, their habits much resemble those of _O. ursinus_. As in the other Otaries, colour varies with age. The darker tint of the young, as they grow older, tones down to a rich brown, with the under parts yellow, the hairs being tipped with greyish-white. The hairs are by no means so strong as in the Hair Seals, while the under-fur is thick, soft, and of a ruddy brown hue. Their skins are among the most valuable in the market.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN, OR CAPE FUR SEAL.[216]--We are still, as Mr. J. W. Clark remarked a few years ago, in a “lamentable state of ignorance about the Sea Lions of the Cape of Good Hope--indeed, we cannot say with certainty whether there are one or two species--though, from that centre of trade, cargoes of 60,000 or 70,000 skins come annually to the London market.” In 1875, the Zoological Society obtained, presented through Sir Henry Barkly, a living specimen of Sea Lion, taken at the Cape, which was smaller in size than the Patagonian Sea Lion (_O. jubata_) exhibited along with it. This individual had a whitish-red coat, grizzled with blackish hairs, the under side of the body, as likewise the short fur, being of a richer reddish-brown. When it came out of the water, its then sleek skin closely resembled that of the latter well-known example of a Hair Seal. The process of dressing the skin we have already described, doubtless, would bring out the fact of its possessing the rich fur coat not obvious in the living animal. This would appear to agree with the barely adult stage of the animal. Flat skins, apparently of this same species from the Cape, figure largely in the trade sales, and those similar to the above in age are technically called “middlings.” The smaller sorts of the sale catalogue, “pups,” or “black pups,” have smooth, soft, polished, black hairs more ruddy beneath. The large skins with a slight mane, the “large wigs” of the dealers, have whitish fur intermixed with black hairs and short reddish under-fur. The habits of the live animal in confinement quite resemble those of the other Sea Lions living alongside.

THE NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL.[217]--The investigations of Mr. J. W. Clark (“Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” 1875) tend to the conclusion that the Fur Seals originally met with by Captain Cook on the shores of New Zealand, and also by him and Flinders in Bass’s Strait and the coasts of Tasmania, belonged to one and the same species. J. R Forster, the naturalist who accompanied Cook, made some spirited sketches (now in the British Museum) of the living forms, which agree in most respects with animals obtained in 1871-5 by Dr. Hector in New Zealand. In 1773, during his second voyage of circumnavigation, Captain Cook cast anchor in Dusky Bay, New Zealand, and records that he saw great numbers of Seals on the small rocks and islets in this neighbourhood. Forster made careful notes thereon, besides his drawings. He says they are Seals with ears, hands free, feet webbed on the under surface, naked between the fingers, hardly nailed. Gregarious in habits, they are timid, and fling themselves off the rocks into the sea at the approach of man; but the most powerful resist when attacked, bite the weapons used against them, and even venture to assail the boats. They swim with such rapidity under water that a boat rowed by six strong men can scarcely keep up with them. Tenacious of life to a degree, a fractured skull did not despatch them. The weight of the full-grown is 220 lbs., of cubs scarcely 12 lbs.; the former are six or seven feet long, the latter barely two and a half. The hair is soft, black, with reddish-grey tips and a delicate reddish under-fur.

Mr. Clark and Dr. Hector agree as to the general colour. The young are black when wet, when dry, lighter below; individual hairs pale yellow at base with light yellow tips, and a dense under-fur of the same tint. The older animals have hairs tipped with white. Round the mouth and ears are pale yellow. These Seals are fast disappearing or retiring to the Southern Antarctic Ocean. They possibly may be found in some of the smaller islands south of New Zealand, such as Auckland and Campbell Islands. On this point, however, information is required, but it has been shown at least that Hooker’s Sea Bear frequents these latter, and, as already observed, is known in a sub-fossil state in New Zealand.

At the beginning of this century the sealing-trade of New South Wales was at its height, and vessels, manned by crews of from twenty-five to thirty men, pursued the craft. Mr. Scott, on the authority of Mr. Morris, an old Sydney sealer by profession, remarks that “to so great an extent was this indiscriminate killing carried, that in two years (1814-15) no less than 400,000 skins were obtained from Penantipod, or Antipodes Island, alone, and necessarily collected in so hasty a manner that very many of them were but imperfectly cured. The ship _Pegasus_ took home 100,000 of these in bulk, and on her arrival in London, the skins, having heated during the voyage, had to be dug out of the hold, and were sold as manure--a sad and reckless waste of life.”

THE ASH-COLOURED OTARY.[218]--It is to be regretted that a memoir on the Eared Seals from the pen of the admirable Péron was lost to science by his lamented early demise. The French _savant_, when sojourning on the South Australian coast at Kangaroo Island, found a new species of the genus, which he named _O. cinerea_, this attaining a length of nine to ten feet. He stated that the hair of this animal is very short, hard, and coarse, but its leather is thick and strong, and the oil prepared from its fat is as good as it is abundant and he recommends pursuit of it and the other Seals with fur of good quality.

Most likely it is the same animal to which Flinders alludes when he says, speaking of Kangaroo Island, which abounded with Kangaroos and Seals: “They seem to dwell mainly together. It not unfrequently happened that the report of a gun fired at a Kangaroo near the beach brought out two or three bellowing Seals from under the bushes considerably farther from the water-side. The Seal, indeed, seems to be much the more discerning animal of the two; for its actions bespoke a knowledge of our not being Kangaroos, whereas the Kangaroo not unfrequently appeared to consider us to be Seals.”

It evidently is to Péron’s animal, or one otherwise not to be distinguished from it, that the naturalists of the _Astrolabe_, fully twenty year after, referred as the _Phoque cendrée_ frequenting Port Western, Australia. This appears to be a distinct animal from others hitherto described, though so little is positively known that I shall merely draw attention to its colour. It is grey on the back, lighter on the muzzle, and rusty-grey on the lower parts of the body. It has sparse reddish under-fur, and Clark states of the somewhat dilapidated skin preserved in the Paris Museum that it has a length of between seven and eight feet.