372 THE CARNIVORA 



and holding the greatest number, while those behind must rest 

 content with half a dozen or thereabouts. Then matters settle 

 down more quietly, and in a few days each female gives birth to 

 a single little one. The cubs gorge themselves heartily with 

 the rich creamy milk of their patient mothers, and thrive and 

 grow rapidly. Then comes the business of teaching the youngsters 

 to swim, for they do not of their own account take at once to the 

 water. But they soon learn, frolicking about together in the sea, 

 dashing through the breakers, and " hauling up " on the shore to rest. 



But for timely Government intervention, which has secured a 

 strict close time, and limited the number to be killed in certain 

 regions, these handsome and interesting animals would have become 

 exterminated, and it must be a matter of regret to all animal- 

 lovers that, despite existing regulations, the number of Fur Seals 

 steadily diminishes, while the slaughter and skinning of these com- 

 paratively defenceless animals is attended by the most revolting 

 cruelties, the wretched animals, more often than not, being skinned while 

 still half alive. To quote from Captain Borchgrevink's account, 

 " Specially cruel is the task when seal-pikes are used. Only rarely 

 does an animal die from one or two blows of a pike, and if it is not 

 dead it is considered ' all the better,' for it is easier to skin a seal 

 while it is half alive. In the utmost agony the wretched beast 

 draws its muscles away from the sharp steel which tears away 

 its skin, and thus assists in parting with its own coat. The crash 

 of the skull, the flow of blood, the sobs of the dying, and the 

 brutality of the heartless and careless men are awful." Obtained 

 at the cost of such unspeakable agony to a harmless and defenceless 

 animal, the possession of a beautiful sealskin garment is no matter 

 for pride or jealousy, but rather for loathing and disgust. There 

 are some ten well-marked species of sea-lions, whereof five belong 

 to the " Fur " Seals, and five to the " Hair " Seals. Already some 

 of the former have through their wholesale slaughter become ex- 

 ceedingly rare, or practically extinct. 



The true Seals (Phocida) have no external ears, and the hind 

 limbs are useless for locomotion on land, being bound up with 

 the tail so as to form functionally merely part of that organ. 

 The Seal is not only marine, but is found in the Caspian and Lake 

 Baikal, its presence in those inland seas being considered a 

 vestige of a former connection with the open sea. 



