PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 527 



for different seals do not usually herd together. The differences in size 

 and in loudness and tone of voice were probably attributable to differ- 

 ences in age and sex, and all niay have been of a species which has 

 various names, for it is called Otaria pusiUa by some zoologists and 

 Arctocephalus delalandii and Arctocephalus antarticus by others. An 

 adult male of A. delalandii is recorded to have attained a length of 

 8ft. 6in., and cubs of the same species from six to eight months old 

 measure about 2ft. Gin. in length. (3) Anchovies (achons) were also 

 plentifiil in the Vjay. 



A brief mention of the other beasts and birds which are alluded to 

 in the Roteiro in connection with the earlier stages of the journey may 

 fittingly conclude this note. In August, 1497, when the Sao Bafaell, 

 the ship commanded by Paulo da Gama, in which the author sailed, 

 was making its way, probably, across the Gulf of Guinea, birds which 

 resembled large herons (gnrcoees) were encountered. These may have 

 been cranes in the act of performing a seasonal or casual migratory 

 journey. On the 27th day of October of the same year, when nearing 

 the west coast of southern Africa, whales, seals, and shellfish (quoquas) 

 were seen. On the 8th of November the vessels cast anchor in a wide 

 bay which extended from east to west, and was sheltered from all except 

 north-westerly winds. It was estimated, subsequently, to be 60 leagues 

 distant from Angra de Sao Bras, and as the Angra de Sao Bras was also 

 60 leagues distant from the Gape of Good Hope, the wide bay, which 

 the voyagers named the Angra de Santa Elena, must have been very 

 near the Cape. As it was sheltered from all winds except those from 

 the north-west it was, probably, our Table Bay. A " G. de Sta Ellena " 

 is delineated in the position of Table Bay on the anonymous chart 

 drafted in Portugal in 1502, commonly called the Cantino Chart. The 

 Portuguese held intercourse with the inhabitants of the adjacent 

 •country, who had tawny skins and were probably of Hottentot race. 

 Their food consisted of the flesh of whales, seals, and gazelles, or ante- 

 lopes {c/nzellns), and the roots of herbs. The birds were "thought to 

 resemble the birds in Portugal. There were corvos marinhos, which is 

 generally translated '" cormorants," but " seaside crows " would, I 

 think, be an equally plausible rendering of the words ; quayvotas, (4) 

 which, I think, signifies waterfowl ; larks ; and turtledoves. 



(3) Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British Museum, by J. E. Gray, 

 F.R.S. Second edition, p. 53 (1866). 



(4) Perhaps connected etymologically with giiaiva, a moat or ditch. 



