THE PUR SEAL 45 



a mob will sleep iu the same place many nights, but, if they are 

 distnrl)ecl. they will shift their camp. 



It was generally supposed, up till 1903, that our seals migrated 

 in the same manner as those of the north; but Dr. Cockayne, 

 who visited the islands in the winter of that year, reports having 

 seen sea lions in large numbers. It seems, therefore, that 

 some do not migrate, but remain at their homes all the year 

 round. 



The Fur Seal. — Kekeno. 



ArctocepJiahis forsteri. 



Blaekish-browii, or grizzled when old, and with reddish chestnut 

 nnder-fi;r (principally on the back), which is white near the base. The 

 sexes are nearly alike in size and colour. Length of the male, 5% to 

 7ft.; of the female, 4i^ to 7ft. New Zealand and the Southern Islands. 



In the early days of Australian colonisation, sealing was 

 carried on in Bass Strait, and, when the industry began to flag 

 there, attention was turned to the coast of New Zealand, and to 

 the neighbouring islands. It was not long before a regular trade 

 in connection with the fur seal was established with Sydney. 

 But the slaughter of the seals was so great that, after a few years 

 had passed, they became scarce, and the industry came to an end. 



Captain Cook, in his account of his first voyage, mentions the 

 fact that seals had been seen by him in New Zealand and only on 

 the coast of the South Island. On his second voyage, the great 

 navigator recruited his ship's crew at Dusky Bay, and the first 

 fresh meat eaten by him in that locality Avas obtained from the 

 first seal killed in Dusky. During his stay of nearl^^ two months 

 at the Southern Sounds, Cook killed many seals, using the flesh 

 for food, the skins for repairs to the rigging, and the blubber for 

 oil for his lamps. 



Mr. R. IMcNab, of Knapdale, Gore, in a communication 

 to the authors, supplies some very interesting information on this 

 subject. He states that in 1792 the first sealing gang was landed 

 on the shores of New Zealand, and was stationed at Dusky for 

 nearly a year, procuring 4500 skins for the employer of the gang, 

 Captain Raven, of the Brifa)tnia. In 1803, when the Bass Strait 



