17 



■ female charms, but with the very generous 



growling and fighting and commotion amongst these unruly males before the whole company get assembled in their places, 

 ready tor tlie arrival of tlie ladies. It takes tliem about a month to get properly located, and when they are all there 

 they cover some acres of ground ; a strange party of bridegrooms waiting for the brides. Certain of these gentlemen, 

 called " bachelors," remain in the sea, not because they have no appreciation of fem ' " " ■ - ■ 



object of escorting the ladies as they 

 arrive. Presently the females begin to 

 arrive, in small numbers at first, but 

 afterwards more numerously. As soon 

 as one appears, the liaohelors *'escort" 

 her, that is to say, lead or drive her 

 ashore, and no sooner has she landed, 

 than the nearest e.\pectant bridegroom, 

 an old male from the front rank, goes 

 down to meet her, bowing and courtesy- 

 ing in a riiiiculous fashion, and chuckling 

 in coaxing and endearing terms. This 

 polite manner is, ho^'ever, all a pretence 

 on the part of the wicked old fellow, for 

 no soo!ier does he get well between the 

 lady and tlie water, so that the unsus- 

 pecting female cannot escape him, than 

 with a grunt and a growl he drives her 

 home to his harem. By this process the 

 front row of harems gets filled, or almost 

 so. But, in the meantime, the occupants 

 of the back rows are eager for their share 

 of the spoil ; they cannot get to the 

 shore on account of their more fortrmate 

 neighbours in front ; so their oidy 

 method of providing themselves with 

 brides is by jiractising extensive and 

 systematic robbeiy. The males of an 

 upper row select tlie time when tlieii- 

 neighljours of t he lower row are off their 

 guard to steal their wives. This they 

 do by taking up the females in their 

 mouths — thefemales lieing much smaller 

 than the males — and lifting them into 

 their own circle. If tlie rightful hus- 

 band catclies the barefaced co-respon- 

 dent in the act, then there is a figlit, 

 which often ends unfortunately for the 

 lady, for both males seizing her at the 

 same time, they not unfrequently rend 

 her in two. It takes a long time, as 

 one may imagine, for all the males to 

 get their liarems filled, and those in the 

 back row have often to go poorly served. 

 Still there are many ladies of an accom- 

 modating character who are not averse 

 to a change of lords, and who take a 

 favorable opportunity of slipping away 

 at a quiet moment to fill up a vacancy 

 in an adjoining harem. There is no 

 divorce court amongst them, but tlie 

 offended husband takes the law into his 

 own hand, and consequently fighting 

 and disputing are incessant. In this 

 condition tliey remain for tliree or four 

 months, the most marvellous part of 

 the affair being that during that period 

 they eat nothing. They arrive fat anil 

 sleek, but they go away thin and care- 

 worn. 



A seal has none of the altruistic instincts of some other animals, for she will never feed any 

 pn}) Imt Iter own, says the Popular Science Monthly. Not a very affectionate mother at best, she 

 yet mierriiio:ly knows her nnrselin.s^^'s voice, and he in tnrn learns to find her. Wlien tliey meet 

 and recognise each other at meal times, it is easy to see that they helong together. Her dnty done, 

 however, she lets it shift for itself till the next feeding time. She mstantly knows any little 

 hungry intruder that is stealing up to her to get a meal on the sly. She cuffs and bites un"^til the 



KIN(i I'ENCUINS BEING FED. 



