HABITS. 343 



ance of the vanquished. The wounds they make with their 

 teeth are as deep as those made with a sabre ; and in the month 

 of July yon will hardly see one of them that has not some 

 wound upon him. After the end of the battle they throw them- 

 selves into the water to wash their bodies. The occasions of 

 their quarrels are these : The first and most bloody is about 

 their females, when one endeavors to carry off the mistress of 

 another, or the young ones that are females; the females that 

 are present follow the conqueror. The second is about their 

 places, when one comes too near that of another, which they 

 don't allow, either for want of room, or because they are jeal- 

 ous of their coining too near their mistresses. The third is 

 owing to their endeavouring to do justice, and end the quarrels 

 of others. 



.... "Another reason of the Sea Cats going in the spring 

 to the eastwards to the Desert Islands must be, that resting 

 and sleeping without nourishment for three months, they free 

 themselves from the fat which was troublesome to them, in the 

 same manner as the bears who live the whole winter without 

 nourishment ; for in the months of June, July, and August, the old 

 ones do nothing but sleep upon the shore, lying in one place 

 like a stone, now and then looking at one another, and yawn- 

 ing and stretching, without meat or drink; but the young ones 

 begin to walk in the beginning of July. When this animal lies 

 upon the shore and diverts himself, his lowing is like that of a 

 cow ; when he fights he growls like a bear ; when he has con- 

 quered his enemy, he chirps like a cricket ; but being vanquished 

 or wounded, he groans or mews like a cat ; coming out of the 

 water, he commonly shakes, strokes his breast with his hinder 

 paws, and smooths the hair upon it. The male lays his snout 

 to that of the females, as if he was kissing her. When they 

 sleep in the sun they hold up their paws, wagging them as the 

 dogs do their tails. They lie sometimes upon their backs, at 

 other times like a dog upon their bellies ; sometimes contract- 

 ing, at other times extending themselves. Their sleep is never 

 so sound but that they awake at the approach of any person, 

 how softly soever he goes, and are presently upon their guard ; 

 besides their smell and hearing are surprisingly acute. 



" They swim so fast that they can easily make ten versts in an 

 hour; and when they happen to be wounded at sea they seize 

 the boats of the fishers with their teeth, and drag them along 

 with such swiftness that they appear to fly and not to swim 



