434 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



French transit of Venus expedition, reported considerable herds 

 of fur seals there (J. A. Allen, in Jordan and others, 1899), but 

 the more recent status of these animals seems difficult to 

 determine. 



In 1924 the French Chamber of Deputies completely pro- 

 hibited taking or hunting seals in the Crozet Archipelago, St. 

 Paul and Amsterdam Islands, Howe, McMurdo, and Briant 

 Islands in the north of the Kerguelen Archipelago, and on 

 part of the south coast of Kerguelen, islands that together now 

 constitute a national park. 



Presumably the fur seals formerly frequenting the Prince 

 Edward and the Crozet Islands were the same as the Kerguelen 

 fur seal, or possibly were nearer to the form of South Africa. 

 No precise studies of the matter seem to have been made. 

 The former group lies some 900 miles southeast of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and the latter about the same distance to the east 

 and half way between the Prince Edward and Kerguelen 

 groups. According to J. A. Allen (in Jordan and others, 1899) 

 fur seals formerly abounded on the Prince Edward group. 

 About 1806, Capt. H. Fanning obtained a full cargo of fur 

 seals there, as did other vessels at the same time, but definite 

 statistics are unavailable. He was also the first sealer to visit 

 the Crozet Islands (in 1805), but although he saw an abundance 

 of seals there he passed on to the Prince Edward Islands. 

 Later on, however, many seals were taken over a number of 

 years at the Crozets. At Possession Island, the largest of the 

 group, Captain Brine in 1876 found "hundreds of seals, which 

 were resting on the damp grass bordering on the stream which 

 at this point enters the sea." They must have been greatly 

 depleted soon after, however, for in 1887, Captain George 

 Comer visited the islands on the recommendation of people at 

 Cape Town who had formerly taken great numbers there, but 

 after five months his party succeeded in obtaining only three 

 seals (J. A. Allen, in Jordan and others, 1899). What numbers 

 if any now occur on these islands would be interesting to know. 



CAPE FUR SEAL 



ARCTOCEPHALUS PUSILLUS (Schreber) 



Phoca pusilla Schreber, Saugthiere, vol. 3, p. 314, 1776; p. 584, 1777; pi. 86, 1775 

 ("Im indischen Meere" but assumed to be South Africa). 



