THE ANTARCTIC OCEAN. 399 



elephant {Macrorhlmis elej^hantinus), so called not only from his size attaining 

 a length of twenty-five feet, and a girth at the largest part of the body of from 

 fifteen to eighteen, but also from the singular structure of his elongated nostrils, 

 which hang down when he is in a state of repose, but swell out to a proboscis a 

 foot long when he is enraged. This gives the anipial a very formidable appear- 

 ance, which, along with his bellowing and his widely-gaping jaws armed with 

 tusk-like canines, might strike terror into the boldest heart. But in reality the 

 sea-elephant is a most defenseless creature, for on land it moves its unwieldy 

 carcass with the utmost diflSculty, and a single blow upon the snout with a club 

 sufiices to stretch it lifeless on the ground. It used to be met with in consid- 

 erable numbers on all the flat shores or islands between 35° and 62° S. lat., but 

 as it yields a large quantity of excellent oil, and as its skin, though merely cov- 

 ered with thick short bristles, is of some value from its great stren<Tth and 

 thickness, incessant persecution has greatly thinned its rankfe, and in some parts 

 iextirpated it. Thus Sir James Ross relates that the sea-elephant and several 

 other species of seals, which were formerly in great abundance at Kergueleu's 

 Land, annually drew a number of fishing-vessels to its shores. But at the time 

 of his visit (1840), after so many years of slaughter, they had quite deserted 

 the place. The flesh of the sea-elephant is black, and of an oily taste, but Anson 

 and his companions, after having been tossed about for several months on a 

 tempestuous sea and reduced to great distress by scurvy, felished it at Juan 

 Fernandez. The tongue is said to be a great delicacy. 



As the soft jet-black fur of the young southern sea-bear {Arctocephalus falc- 

 lancUcus) is no less valuable than that of its northern relative, the eagerness 

 with which it is pursued may easily be imagined. Formerly vast herds of sea- 

 bears used to resort every summer to the New Shetland Islands, but soon after 

 the rediscovery of the group the American and English sealers made their ap- 

 pearance on its desolate shores, and in the short time of four years extirpated 

 the ursine seals, thus destroying by wasteful destruction what might have been 

 a permanent source of profit. 



The southern sea-lion ( Otaria juhata) is a larger animal than his northern 

 namesake; and while the latter is furnished only with to erect and curly hair- 

 tuft at the neck, a complete mane flows round his breast. The remainder of 

 the tawny body is covered with short smooth hairs or bristles. The sea-lioness, 

 who is much smaller than her mate, has no rdane; and as she is of a darker 

 color and has a differently shaped head, is frequently mistaken for another 

 species, and called wolf, or lobo, by the inhabitants of the south-western coast 

 of America. The fore flippers of the sea-lion have the appearance of lai-gc 

 pieces of black tough leather, showing, instead of nails, slight horny elevations ; 

 the hind fins, which are likewise black, have a closer resemblance to feet, and the 

 five toes are furnished with small nails. It is a formidable-looking beast, par- 

 ticularly when full grown to a length of ten feet and more. The sea-leo[)ard 

 {LeiotonyxWeddeUi), which owes its name to its spotted skin, is peculiar to the 

 southern seas. This large seal is from eight to nine feet long; the hind feet 

 have no nails, and greatly resemble the tail of a fish. 



The Antarctic seals, dolphins, and petrels chiefly prey upon a genus of fish 



