208 REPORT OF BRITISH COMMISSIONERS. 



side of a hill we Averc not discovered till we were close upon them; 

 notwithstandinji- their seiitiiioll, before we could approach, with a great 

 howle waki'd tliein, wee got between the sea and some of them, but 

 they shunned ns not, for they ean)e directly upon us, and though we 

 dealt here and there a blow, yet not a man that withstood them escaped 

 the overthrow. They reckon not of a musket shot, a sword pierceth 

 not their skiiine, and to give a blow with a stafte is as to smite upon a 

 stone; only in giving a blow upon his snowt ])resently he falleth down 

 dead. 



" After they had recov^ered the water they did as it were scorne us, 

 detie us, and danced before us untill we had shot some musket shott 

 through them, and so they api>earcd no more. 



" This tish is like unto a calte, with four legs, but not above a spaune 

 long; his skinne is heyre like a calfe, but these were different to all 

 that I have ever scene, yet I have scene of them in many parts, for 

 these were greater and in their former j)arts like unto lyons, with 

 shaggy heyre and mostaches. 



" They live in the sea, and come to slcepe on the land, and they ever 

 have one that watcheth, who adviseth them of any accident. 



"They are beneliciall to nuui in their skinnes for many purposes; in 

 their nu)staches for pick-tooths, and in their fatt to make traine-oyle. 

 This may sulVice for the scale, for that he is well known." 



847. In the seventeenth century these notices still continue frequent. 

 Thus Henry lUewer landing at Valentine Bay on the 0th March, 1642, 

 writes: ''Saw among the rocks several sea lions and sea dogs, about the 

 bigness of a good European calf; some of a greyish, some of a browuish 

 colour, making a noise not unlike our sheep." 



848. Dampier, in 1083, gives the following very full general descrip- 

 tion of seals :* 



The seals are sort of creatines pretty well kiiown, yet it may not be amiss to 

 describe thorn. They are as big as calves; the head of them like a doir, therefore 

 called by the l)n.teh, the "sea hounds " Under eachslioulder jj^rows a loTig thick tin; 

 these serve them to swim with w1i(>n in the sea, and are instead of le<is to them when 

 on the land, for raisinjj their bodies n]> on end l)y the help of their tins or stumps, 

 and so havinj; their tail parts drawn close under them, they rebound as it were, and 

 tlirow their bodies forward, drawinn' their hinder parts after tliem. and then ajjaiu 

 risinu: up and sprintciutj forward with their fore parts alternately, they lie tumbling 

 thus up and down all the wliile they are movinj^ on land. From their shoulders to 

 their tails they grow tapering like (ish. ;ind have two small tins on eachsidc the rump, 

 which is commonly covered with their tins. These tins serve instead of a tail in the 

 sea, and on hnul they sit on tliem when they give suck to their young. Their hair is 

 of divers colours, as black, grey, dun, spotted, looking very sleek and pleasant when 

 they come tirst out of the sea. For these at .John Fernando have tine short fur, the 

 like I have not taken notice of anywhere but in these seas. Here are always 

 thousands, I might say possibly millions, of them, either sitting on the bays, or going 

 and coming in the sea round the island, which is covered with them (as they lie at 

 the top of the water playing and sunning themselves) for a mile or two from the 

 shore. Wlien they come out of the sea they bleat like sheep for their young, and 

 though they pass through hundreds of other's young ones before they come to their 

 own, yet they will not sutler any of them to suck. 'J'he young ones are like puppies, 



and lie much ashore, but when beaten by any of us, they, as well as the old 

 143 ones, will make toward the st^v. and swim very swift and nimble, though on 



shore they lie very sluggishly, and will not go out of our ways unless we beat 

 them, but sna]) at us. A blow on the nose soon kills them. Large ships might here 

 load themselves with seal-skins and trane oyle, for they are extraordinarily fat. 

 Seals are found as well in cold as in hot climates. 



849. In the British Museum are kept the admirably written MSS. oi 

 certain other voyagers, and in that relating the experiences of Captian 

 Strong ill the '' ^Velfare," in 1(581), the writer, named Simsou, states that 



* " Dampier's Voyages," vol. i, p. 89. 



