ROBERT POCOCK. 93 



then young, and not half so large as at present, weighing 

 now, I should suppose, 60 or 80 Ibs. but said in the hand- 

 bill, 220 Ibs., 4 ft. 6 in. high, and 5 ft. long. This seal is 

 somewhat tamed, for it gets up when spoken to, and at 

 the word of command throws its head back, then claps 

 its sides, opens its mouth, and shakes hands, viz., put its 

 paws together. He often got up to the side of the wooden 

 cage and took out a small flat-fish from a pail filled with 

 water, which he devoured whole seemingly without biting. 

 This feeding and dipping his head in water, occasions its 

 living, for 1 do not suppose they would live long with- 

 out water. It has long curved nails on its fore-feet, but 

 none on the back -feet, a short tail, and appears to me to 

 be the Phoca cristata, crested seal, because on its head 

 the hair comes down in a point or crest ; or the Phoca 

 leonina, bottle-nosed seal. Its head is large and long, 

 and its nostrils are much inflated when it blows out 

 its breath. The head not unlike a young calf. The 

 skin whitish and somewhat spotted. If the tail or 

 hind legs are touched, it utters a mournful tone. It 

 brushed its fore-paw over its head and eyes, and 

 generally sat up, almost in an erect posture. There 

 were several monkeys and other quadrupeds. 



" Sunday, 2bth. Fine day. The ship Fortune, 

 Captain Walker, not having sailed, I sent out under the 

 care of the second mate, Mr. Potter, another dozen of 

 newspapers to Mr. Lewin at Sydney, New South 

 Wales, and also forwarded a letter to Mr. Wallington, 

 surgeon of the Emu ship, bound out to Botany 

 Bay, entreating him to bring home some curiosities. 

 Heard Guthrie had been ' pressed ' and put on board 

 the tender. Heard a meteor was seen flying westward, 



bout ten degrees above the horizon in the south. 



