232 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



Georgia, and the South Shetlands. On the eastern side 

 of the Pacific they occur, as recorded by Lord Anson, on 

 Juan Fernandez, and thence by way of the Marquesas to 

 the Macquarie and other islands south of New Zealand, 

 where the British Museum specimens were obtained. The}^ 

 were likewise common on the coasts of Tierra del Fuego 

 and Southern Patagonia ; and the occurrence of the isolated 

 colony north of the equator in California has been already 

 mentioned. 



The trunk-like muzzle of the old bull sea-elephant, like 

 the sac on the crown of the head of its relative the bladder- 

 seal, is capable of inflation during periods of excitement, 

 but at other times is small and relatively inconspicuous. 

 Probably it is only when the animals are on shore, and 

 more especially during the breeding season, that the trunk 

 is inflated to its full extent. The sketch in Lord Anson's 

 " Voyage," although true to nature in some respects, is in 

 many ways a caricature, and it is only of late years that 

 photographs have been obtained showing the true form of 

 the animal. From these it appears that when on land the 

 old bulls are in the habit of supporting the fore-part of 

 the body on the front flippers and raising the neck and 

 head into a nearly vertical posture, so that the latter is 

 fully six feet above the ground. When the trunk is 

 inflated to its fullest extent, the mouth is opened, and the 

 animal emits a succession of terrific roars, which may be 

 heard for miles. 



In using its front flippers as a means of support to this 

 extent, the elephant-seal is quite unlike the rest of the 

 earless seals, and resembles the sea-lions and sea-bears. 

 It also agrees with the latter group in the great superiority 

 of the males to the females in point of bodily size. A 

 third point of resemblance between elephant-seals and 



