CHAPTER VII. 



THE HABITS OF THE FUR-SEAL, ETC. 



TuE Seal-life on the Prybilov Islands may be classed 

 under four heads, as follows, viz : 



The Fuk-Seal, {Callorhlnus nrsuius,) Kautiekie of the Rus- 

 sians. 



The Sea-Lion, (Eumetopias stellcrii,) See vitchie of che Rus- 

 sians. 



The Hair Seal, (PhocavituUna,) Nearhpab of the Russians. 



The Walrus, {Rosmariis arcticus^) Morsjeeof the Russians. 



Of the above, tbe hair-seal is the animal upon wbieh pop- 

 ular and, indeed, scientific opinion is founded as to what a seal 

 appears like, and bas in this way given to the people a false 

 idea of its relatives, above enumerated, and bas made it exceed- 

 ingly difficult for the naturalist to correctly discriminate be- 

 tween them J for, although it belongs to the same family, it 

 does not even have a generic affinity to those seals- with whicb 

 it has been persistently confounded, viz, tbe fur seal and sea- 

 lion, no more so than has the raccoon to tbe black or grizzly 

 bear, both being as nearly related to eacb other. 



A detailed description of this seal, Phoca vituUna, is quite 

 unnecessary, as species of the genus are common pets all over 

 the world where zoological gardens are established, and its 

 grotesquely stuffed skin is still more frequently to be met with. 



It ditfers, bowever, so completely in shape and babit from its 

 congeners on these islands, that it may be well, so as to pre- 

 serve a sharp line of distinction, to state that it seldom comes 

 up from the water more than a few rods, at the most, generally 

 resting at the margin of the surf- wash; it takes up no position 

 on land to bold and protect a barem, preferring the detached 

 water-worn rocks which occasionally project out a little above 

 the sea-level and are only wet entirely over by heavy storms ; 

 and the animal when it is disturbed immediately goes to sea. 

 Upon these small spots of rock^^, wet isolation from the main 

 island, and some secluded places on the north shore, the " nearh- 

 pah," as the natives call it, brings forth its young, which is a 



