388 ARTICIiE BY DR. J. A. ALLEN. 



but more or less were at all times on shore upon their favorite beaches, 

 which were about the islands of Santa Barbara, Cer- 



o/Sufornfa*''" ""'''"* ^'^s, Guadalupc, Sau Bonitos, Natividad, San Roque, 

 and Asuncicm, and some of the most inaccessible i)oints 



on the main land between Asuncion and Cerros." 

 Haifa century ago vessels were freighted off the California coast with 



cargoes of oil and other seal i^rodncts, where, the killing being as usual 



unrestrained and indiscriminate, now only a few individuals remain of 



the former great herds. 



17. SouTHEKN Sea-Elephant Macrorhinns leonimis (Liuii.). 



Habitat : Southern portions of the South Pacific, South Atlantic, and 

 Indian Oceans, and Antarctic Seas. 



The "sea-elephant" of sealers has a wide geographical distribution, 

 occurring off the coasts and about the islands of nearly the entire 

 southernhalf of the southern hemisphere, or from about latitude30° south 

 nearly to the Antarctic Circle. Whether these so-called sea elephants 

 areallreferabletoasinglespecies, orto several species, has notas yet been 

 satisfactorily settled, owing to lack of specimens in our museums. It is 

 sufticient in the present connection to consider them collectively as sea- 

 elephants, since the specific differences, if such truly exist, are obvi- 

 ously of slight importance; even the California sea-elephant does not 

 differ very appreciably from its relatives of the far South. 



The sea-elephant is the largest of the Pinnipeds, the Avalruses alone 

 possibly excepted, the full-grown males attaining a length of 20 to 22 

 feet, and a girth of about 12 feet. While thus longer than the walrus 

 they are rather slenderer. They yield a very large amount of oil, the 

 ruxture of which has led to the slaughter of many thousands of these 

 huge beasts. A full-grown male, when very fat, will yield, it is said, 

 about 4 barrels of oil. The females are less than half the size of the 

 males and lack tbe elongated snout. 



At the approach of the breeding season they resort to sandy beaches 

 in large herds, tlie males x>receding the females, and 

 ph^nts*" "^ ^"^ ^^^ ^^^*^ whole herd remains on shore for several months, 

 or until the young are able to take the water. They 

 also again come on shore to renew their coats, remaining more or less 

 on shore from January to May, at the end of which i)eriod they become 

 very lean. 



Captain Morrell thus describes their habits, as observed by him in 

 1823, at Kerguelan Land and the islands south of Cape 

 c^taii^MoSrisl!? Horn: " The male sea-elephant comes on shore the lat- 

 ter end of August — the female late in September, or 



about the 1st of October When the males first come on 



shore they are so excessively fat that I have seen two from which 

 might be produced a tun of oil; but after a residence of three months 

 on land, without food, they become, as might be expected, very lean 

 and emaciated. About the middle of December, their young being old 

 enough to take the water, the whole breeding herd leave the shore to 

 follow where instinct leads them among the hidden recesses of the deep. 

 About the 1st of January the brood of the previous year come on shore 

 to renew their coats; and in the middle of February the full-grown 

 males ami females do the same, and by the 1st day of May they have all 

 disappeared, both old and young." He adds: " I have seen the male 

 sea-elephant more than 25 feet in length, and measuring about IGfeet 

 around the body; whereas the female is never half that size, and in 



