THE AMPHIBIOUS CARNIVORA 53 



quadrupeds, they cannot even stand on their hind- 

 legs ; and, when advancing, they often make no use 

 whatever of their fore-paws either ; conditions these 

 which would bring most quadrupeds to a dead halt. 

 Not so, however, with these animals. Thus Captain 

 Weddell remarks of the Fur-Seal : " The agility of 

 this creature is much greater than from their ap- 

 pearance an observer would anticipate. I have seen 

 them, indeed, often escape from men running fast 

 in pursuit of them ;"* and Scoresby, " They cannot 

 be said to walk, yet they shuffle along, especially 

 over the ice, with surprising speed."f And once 

 more, " Even out of the water," says Steller, " espe- 

 cially the females, can run so rapidly that it requires 

 a swift person to get up with them. Cursu vix ac 

 ne vix quidem a celeri cursore superantur."J This, 

 oeyond doubt, far exceeds the powers of other quad- 

 rupeds; without the use of legs to outstrip the speed 

 of man ; and thus we have here another of those 

 peculiarities on which it is interesting to dwell, and 

 to inquire in what way it is to be explained. We 

 feel happy that on this point we can gratify 

 our readers. Serpents, it is known, have a pro- 

 gressive motion, without feet, which is some- 

 times sufficiently rapid; but they move by bend- 

 ing their bodies from side to side, which Seals do 

 not ; and, therefore, these last do not advance like 

 them. On the contrary, they move forward by a 



Voyage towards the South Pole, &c., p. 140. 



* Lib. sup. cit. Vol. i. p. 509. 



J Nov. Acta Petro. t. li. p, 356. 



