SEALS. 75 



until May, when they all leave the coast for the winter. The mode 

 of life of the hair-seals has, however, been much altered since 1863, 

 when I made my first observations, and I believe that the New 

 Zealand hair-seals have now become much more solitary, and that 

 they will soon become extinct." 



When I was in the extreme south of Stewart Island in 1874 

 I found the tracks of these animals in the scrub close to the 

 water's edge, though I did not meet with the sea-lions themselves. 

 I have not heard of one being seen for many a long day. 



Speaking of the sea-leopard, Hector wrote as follows : " This 

 is common round the New Zealand coast, but is a solitary animal. 

 They frequently come on shore, and, notwithstanding their feeble 

 powers of locomotion, they scramble far back into the bush in flat 

 country, and occasionally ascend rivers for a long distance. For 

 instance, one of the seals ascended the Waikato River a few years 

 ago as far as Hamilton, and was claimed by the Maoris as being a 

 real taniwha." 



The fur-seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) is named after J. R. 

 Forster, the naturalist who accompanied Captain Cook on his 

 second voyage of circumnavigation. When in Dusky Bay the 

 seals were found in great numbers on the rocks in the sound. 

 Forster described them as seals with ears (the northern seals being 

 earless), free hands, feet webbed on the under-surface, naked 

 between the fingers, and hardly nailed. " Gregarious in habit, 

 they are timid, and fling themselves oS the rocks into the sea on 

 the approach of man ; but the most powerful resist when attacked, 

 bite the weapons used against them, and even venture to assail the 

 boats. They swim with such rapidity that a boat rowed by six 

 strong men can scarcely keep up with them. Tenacious of life to 

 a degree, a fractured skull did not despatch them." These animals 

 are from 6ft. to 7ft. in length; the anterior flipper is about 

 30 in. long; and the posterior about 15 in. Full-grown males 

 weigh 260 Ib. and over, and females from 200 Ib. to 220 Ib. The 

 hair is soft and black, with reddish-grey tips, and the under-fur 

 is a delicate reddish colour. In old specimens the hairs are tipped 

 with white. 



Hector, writing in 1892, says, " I spent from June, 1863, 

 to January, 1864, in the western sounds of Otago, and have since 

 made occasional visits at other seasons, but chiefly during the 



