232 THE OCEAN. 



of Seal that many vessels are sent to the islands of 

 the Pacific, and to the icy regions of the Antarctic 

 Ocean. Its skin, though serviceable as leather for 

 harness, &c, yields no fur, being clothed only with 

 coarse hair. The oil, however, is of a very superior 

 quality ; it is clear and limpid, without any smell, 

 and never becomes rancid ; it burns slowly, and 

 without smoke or disagreeable odour. The hunters 

 destroy the animals with long lances : "watching the 

 instant when the Seal raises the left forepaw to ad- 

 vance, they plunge the lance into its heart, when it 

 immediately dies. The fat is then peeled from the 

 carcass, and cut up and packed in casks in a similar 

 manner to that of the Whale. 



The soft yellow fur, with a changeable gloss, which 

 a few years ago was so much made into caps, is 

 another product of a South Sea voyage. It is the 

 covering of more than one species of Seal, belonging 

 to a tribe called Otaries, because their heads are 

 furnished with external ears, of which the others 

 are deprived. That which is by eminence called the 

 Fur-Seal (Otaria Falklandicft), is clothed externally 

 with long hair of a grey hue ; but when this hair is 

 pulled out, there is seen a thick fur of great soft- 

 ness, curly or wavy, and of a fine yellowish brown. 

 The habits of this animal are in general similar to 

 those of the Sea-Elephant just described: it is, how- 

 ever, much more active on land, often escaping from 

 a man running. Its history affords us an instance of 

 change of instincts produced by experience. When 

 the Seals of South Shetland were first visited, they 

 had no apprehension of danger from man ; but would 



