38 



novel page in llic chapter of seals supplied to us ; how muoli 

 more interesting then will be the discovery should they prove 

 to differ specifically or even generically from any hitherto 

 described form, and to be some fresh-water-inhabiting mam- 

 mal analogous or allied to " the otter-like or seal-like animal," 

 whose existence in the rivers and lakes of the mountain dis- 

 tricts of New Zealand has recently been established by Dr. 

 Haast without doubt. See Hochstetter*s New Zealand, page 

 161. Dr. Haast writes, in June 1861, " At a height of 3,500 

 feet above the level of the sea, I frequently saw its tracks 

 on the Upper Ashburton River, in a region never before 

 trodden by man. They resemble the tracks of our European 

 Otter, only a little smaller. The animal itaelf, however, was 

 likewise seen by two gentlemen who have a sheep station 

 at Lake Heron, not far from the Ashburton, 2,100 feet high. 

 They describe the animal as dark brown, of the size of a stout 

 cony. On being struck at with the whip, it uttered a shrill 

 yelping sound, and quickly disappeared in the water among 

 the sea grass." 



I may, in conclusion, mention that, while on a recent visit 

 to Sydney, I saw in the Museum a young specimen of a 

 species of seal entirely new to me, of which the colour was 

 black like that of the Wagga individual, but concerning which 

 Mr. Gerard Krefft was unable to give me further information 

 than that it was caught near Newcastle, New South Wales, 

 Mr. Krefft also tells me that one seal in that collection had 

 lived on platypuses, and must have been a great distance from 

 salt water. 



