vin. SEALS AND SEA-LIONS. 113 



that he had seen the mother seal teach her little one 

 thus to swallow stones. 



Curiously enough the young do not take to the water 

 very readily. On this head Mr. F. J. Thompson records 

 some interesting observations made in the Cincinnati Zoo. 

 The female sea-lion, one of the Californian species, had 

 given birth to a little one. For five weeks the little 

 thing, though afforded every opportunity, showed no 

 disposition to enter the water. Then Mr. Thompson's 

 attention was attracted one day to the peculiar appear- 

 ance of the mother on emerging from the water after 

 taking her customary bath. She was completely covered 

 with a whitish oily substance, about the consistency of 

 semi-fluid lard. As soon as she got into the crate with 

 the young one, she commenced rolling, so that in a short 

 time the young one and the inside of the crate were 

 completely besmeared with the oily substance. The calf 

 seemed to enjoy it hugely, and rolled about "until his 

 coat glistened as if he had just left the hands of a first- 

 class tonsorial artist." "It instantly struck me," says Mr. 

 Thompson, " that the mother had been preparing him for 

 the water, and I immediately tested the matter by taking 

 him out and placing him on the edge of the pond, when, 

 in a few minutes he began to paddle about in the water 

 which he had never done before." 



Let us now turn from the seal-pond or sea-lion tank to 

 the Prybilov Islands of Alaska, and see these creatures in 

 their native haunts. It is early spring, and the coast-line 

 of St. Paul's Island is free of ice and snow. In the water 

 around the shores there are swimming, in an idle, indo- 

 lent mood, a few plump, sleek bulls of the Northern Fur 

 Seal. After a while they land or " haul up " on the shore, 

 and each chooses out a convenient station, some near the 

 coast-line, some further inland. Here they remain until 



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