AMPHIBIOUS QUADRUPEDS. 271 



her lies a foot thick all round the body. It seems 

 to differ from the ordinary seal, not only in its 

 size, but also in its food ; for it is often seen to 

 graze along the shore, and to feed upon the long 

 grass that grows up along the edges of brooks. 

 Its cry is very various, sometimes resembling the 

 neighing of a horse, and sometimes the grunting 

 of the hog. It may be regarded as the largest 

 of the seal family. 



THE MORSE. 



THE Morse is an animal of the seal kind ; but 

 differing from the rest in a very particular for- 

 mation of the teeth, having two large tusks 

 growing from the upper jaw, shaped like those of 

 an elephant, but directed downwards, whereas in 

 the elephant they grow upright, like horns; it 

 also wants the cutting teeth both above and be- 

 low : * as to the rest, it pretty much resembles a 

 seal, except that it is much larger, being from 

 twelve to sixteen feet long. The morses are also 

 generally seen to frequent the same places that 

 seals are known to reside in ; they have the same 

 habitudes, the same advantages, and the same 

 imperfections. There are, however,- fewer varie- 



[* This animal has no fore-teeth when full grown ; has two great tusks 

 in the upper jaw, which point downwards; and grinders on each side in both 

 jaws, which are composed of furrowed bones. The body is oblong ; the lips 

 are doubled ; and the hind-legs arc stretched backwards, and, as it were, 

 bound together, forming a kind of tail fitted for swimming.] 



58 



