SYNOPSIS OF PINNIPEDS. 377 



age. TLe ait of swiinming-, it appears, is not theirs by instinct, as tliey 

 know nothing- about it until taught by their parents. When they are 

 three or four weelis old the mothers drag them to the water by the neck 

 and give them their tirst lesson in the science of aquatic locomotion. 

 They copulate on shore, and the female goes about ten mouths with 

 young. According' to the best calculation I can make they seldom pro- 

 duce more than one pup at a birth, and nevermore than three; and the 

 young ones never come on shore during the first year of their lives." 

 (Morrell, Voyages and Discoveries, pp. 63, 04.) 



The same writer further says: "The striking disparity of size be- 

 tween the male and female is also worthy of renuirk. 

 The large male is about 7 feet iu length, whereas the '" ^^^ ^°°^° ^'^^' 

 female never exceeds 4 feet. The large males are not the most numer- 

 ous; but being the most powerful they are enabled to keep in their 

 possessions all the females. At the time of parturition the number 

 of males [lege females] attending one female [lege male; obviously 

 there is here a transpositiou of terms] is in the proportion of about oue 

 to a dozen; a proof that these anmmls are the greatest polygamists iu 

 the world, not even excepting the Turks. That they are gregarious 

 and social is evident to the most superficial observer who surveys their 

 rookeries, Avhere they herd together iu classes and at different periods. 



"Warmed by the cheering influence of an antarctic spring-, the males 

 of the largest size go on shore about the 1st of Novem- 

 ber, corresponding to our May, and there await the arri- ^^s™*'"^ "f ^eaia. 

 val of the females, which happens about the 1st of December. This, of 

 course, is an annual assignation and occurs, as regularly as the migra- 

 tion of our northern shad from the ocean to the fresh-water rivers, for 

 imrposes perfectlv analogous. As soon as the female 

 seal nmkes her appearance at the edge of the beach, ^^I'^^s^*'"" °f «<'"i^- 

 one of the most gallant of the males imuu;diately takes her under his 

 protection. It seldom happens, however, that he is not obliged to sus- 

 tain his right by one or more combats Avith his rivals. While the 

 males are lighting- in the most desperate manner, the object of their 

 bloody feud sits calmly looking on, contemplating- the fray with appa- 

 rent delight, and no little self-complacency. . . . The proud victor 

 now conducts his lovely prize from the late scene of contention up to 

 the rookery prepared for her acconnuodation. . . . When the female 

 has selected her lodgings and become settled in the rookery, her part- 

 ner is unremitting- in his cares to afford her protection, . . . nor 

 does sheevince the slightest indications of jealousy while he is showing 

 the vsame polite attentions to a dozen other wives. . . . By the last 

 of December all of the females have accomplished the purpose for 

 which they came on shore. 



" When these animals are for the first time visited by man they evince 

 no more ai)X)rehension of danger fi-om their new guests 

 than did the natives of San Salvador when first visited atSt!'^'''"'' °^ '"^" 

 by the Spaniards; and the confidence of the poor seals 

 is requited in the same manner as theirs Avas — by robbery and murder. 

 In fact, they will lie still while their companions are slaughtered and 

 skinned. But they soon become acquainted with the barbarous char- 

 acter of their invaders, withdraw their ill-placed confidence, and avoid 

 Vae fatal intimacy. They now acquire habits of distrust and caution, 

 and devise ways and means for counteracting human strategem and 

 treachery. They select more solitary retreats, on the tops of rocks, 

 beneath high projecting cliffs, from which they can precipitate them- 

 •16 



