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but this appears to be the case only with the older specimens, 

 for the young of A. lohatus is said to be covered with soft fur, 

 which falls off when the next coat of hair is developed." 

 Flinders describes hair seals of enormous size and extraor- 

 dinary power, as frequenting Armstrong's Channel, one 

 killed by him equalling an ox in weight. I cannot identify 

 this with the A. lohatus, as he describes it as having a bull- 

 dog nose, and thinly-set sandy hair, characters not possessed 

 by the A. lohatus. 



Mr. Bass, in Collins' Hist. N. S. Wales, p. 158, in speaking 

 of Cape Barren Island, says, "The rocks were covered with fur 

 seals of great beauty of a species approaching nearest that 

 named by naturalists as the Falkland Island seal. And 

 Flinders gives a more particular description of them. In 

 speaking of Cone Point, on the extreme S.E. of Cape Barren 

 Island, his words are : — " The number of seals exceeded 

 everything we had any of us before witnessed, and they were 

 smaller and of a different species from those which frequented 

 Armstrong's Channel. Instead of the bull-dog nose and 

 thinly-set sandy hair, these had sharp-pointed noses, and 

 the general colour of the hair approached to black, but the 

 tips were of a silver grey, and underneath was a fine, whitish, 

 thick fur. The commotion excited by our presence, in this 

 assemblage of several thousand timid animals, was very in- 

 teresting to me who knew little of their manners. The 

 young cubs huddled together in the holes of the rocks and 

 moaned piteously ; those more advanced scampered and 

 rolled down to the water with their mothers ; whilst some 

 of the old males stood up in defence of their families, until 

 the terror of the sailors' bludgeons became too strong to be 

 resisted. Those who have seen a farm yard, well stocked 

 with pigs, calves, sheep, oxen, and with two or three litters 

 of puppies, with their mothers in it, and have heard them 

 all in tumult together, may form a good idea of the con- 

 fused noise of the seals at Cone Point." 



Mr. Bass speaks of landing on the Patriarch. " He found 

 the outermost island well inhabited. The various tribes had 

 divided it into districts, one part was white with gannets, 

 breeding in nests of earth and dried grass, petrels and pen- 

 guins had their underground habitations in those parts of the 

 island which had most grass. The rocks of the shore, and 

 blocks of granite, were occupied by the pied offensive shag, 

 and common gull ; geese, red bills, and quails, lived in com- 

 mon, and the rest was appropriated to the seals, who seemed 

 to be the lords of the domain." " The males, who possessed a 

 rock to themselves where they sat surrounded by their 

 numerous wives and progeny, on his drawing near them, 



G 



