292 Observations on the Seal-Fishery of the Colony ',<$~c. 



excepted. And if sagacity be" said to exist in proportion to 

 the size of the brain, the seal must possess a more than com- 

 mon share of understanding. And, during a twelve days' 

 confinement on these islands, many occurrences took place 

 which discovered much enlightened instinct. 



Their attachment to their young is intense. The females 

 evinced much distraction on this account, and copious were 

 the tears they shed on beholding the destruction of their 

 species.. Many of these were so extremely beautiful, that it 

 is no wonder that such served as a model upon which the 

 imaginations of the poets framed their tritons, sirens, and sea- 

 gods. 



The amourous propensities of the seals cause much uproar 

 and tnrmoil among their tribes. In the midst of death and 

 destruction, they cling to their indulgencies with all that 

 oestrum which characterizes the blind and incontrollable in- 

 stinct* 



Such, then, are the few scattered observations which I beg 

 leave to submit to the consideration of the South African 

 Institution If it shall excite any of its scientific members to 

 examine the subject with that minuteness which it deserves, 

 the results must prove highly useful to the Naturalist. That 

 the most distinguished of such, with all their vast opportu- 

 nities of research, are confessedly in the dark in points con- 

 nected with the present question, is acknowledged. The 

 concluding paragraph is Cuvier's own words. 



" In the clear definition of species, the great goal of Zoo- 

 logy, no branch of it is, perhaps, more imperfect than that of 

 the seals ; nor, when Ave consider the existing state of igno- 

 rance in relation to so many other mammalia, more in fact 

 within our reach than these marine animals, can we be sur- 

 prised that little should be known about them. Governments, 

 societies, or individuals of wealth and power, may send out 

 men of science to explore the most distant countries ; and 

 scientific zeal may stimulate others to investigate the wonders 

 of nature in her most sequestered recesses ; but we have not 

 the means, except by deduction and analogy, of ascertaining 

 the habits of these half amphibious animals, while procuring 

 their sustenance at the bottom of the sea; nor have we often, 

 or in an efficient manner, the opportunity of watching them 

 in their favourite haunts, the isolated steal rock, or the most 

 retired and deserted strand." 



And again— 



" Our knowledge of the differences of the modes of life of 

 these animals, by no means accords with what we know of the 

 differences of conformation; we cannot, therefore, but con- 

 clude that we have very much as yet to learn in regard to the 

 manners and habita of the seals." 



