1874] Mystery of the Harp Seal. 25 1 



added with certainty to the Irish fauna, though, on the 

 strength of Mr. Evans' clear recollection of the " well- 

 defined black saddle upon the white body," a sort of half- 

 admission is accorded to it.* 



But every visit paid by Mr. More to Roundstone was 

 the signal for fresh exhortations to look after the Harp : 

 and the quest of the " saddle-back " kept him constantly 

 on the alert for peculiarly coloured seals. Once indeed 

 at Kilkieran,f he was himself doubtful whether a seal of 

 which he obtained a good view was not a genuine harp 

 seal, though he thought it more probably only a young 

 Halichaerus. He never however obtained a specimen of 

 the coveted rarity, which to the present day, like Erica 

 ciliaris, awaits rediscovery at Roundstone. 



* Lydekker (" British Mammals," p. 158) : " A seal, shot in county Galway 

 about the year 1856, is considered to indicate the right of this species to be 

 included in the list of Irish Mammals." See also Bell ("British Quadrupeds," 

 2nd edit., p. 254). It was on the 24th or 25th of September, 1855, that Mr. 

 Evans shot his supposed harp seal. 



f August 14, 1869. 



