226 NATURAL HISTORY. 



WHITE-NECKED OTARY,* OR AUSTRALIAN SEA LION. Under these two names, and those of the 

 Counsellor Seal, the Cowled Seal, and Gray's Australian Hair Seal, has the Sea Lion been called 

 which inhabits the shores of Australia. Two localities are specially noted Houtman's Abrolhos 

 and King George's Sound, on the west and south-western parts of the continent though Mr. Scott 

 mentions that this species was formerly very abundant in Bass's Strait, as also on the north-west 

 coast of Australia, and that it is still found tolerably numerous on the Seal Eocks off Port Stephens, 

 a short distance north of Sydney. Very old males of this animal are stated to attain a length of 

 twelve feet, and to be as large in girth as a Horse, but adults from eight to nine feet long are more 

 commonly met with, the females being still smaller. Mr. J. W. Clark deftly catches the salient 

 points as follows : " The adult has the face, front, and sides of the neck, all the under surface, sides, 

 and back, dark or blackish-brown, passing into dark slaty grey on the extremities of the limbs ; the 

 hinder half of the crown, the nape and back of the neck, rich deep fawn-colour. It is the peculiar 

 shape of this stripe of light colour stretching over head and neck which has given it the name of 

 ' Cowled Seal,' and perhaps the appellation ' Counsellor Seal,' which I find is also applied to it, may 

 have been suggested from a fancied resemblance to a barrister in his wig." The males and females 

 differ in colour, the latter being lighter in tint. The white neck-spot, it is suggested, distinguishes 

 the males. The "pups" are born black, and have an abundant coat of soft fur which diminishes 

 with age, and in the old animal is entirely wanting. The skins, therefore, are of no great value, 

 but as a commercial product the oil is of more importance. 



THE PAT AG ONI AN SEA LiON,f OR COOK'S OTARY. Magellan, after whom the Strait dividing 

 Tierra del Fuego from Patagonia is called, in his eventful voyage (1520) found, off the Rio de la 

 Plata, what the Spaniards knew as a Sea Wolf (Lobos de mar), doubtless the Otary above named, for 

 even in the present day the Government of Buenos Ayres protect the colony of Seals of one of the 

 islands at which the celebrated navigator touched. Now these animals are scarce, and their range 

 somewhat limited, but when the buccaneers carried fire and sword into the Spanish provinces they 

 were of frequent occurrence, not only around Patagonia and the neighbouring islands, but up the 

 Peruvian coast. Few of the voyagers that afterwards passed along these shores but had some slight 

 adventure to relate concerning these creatures. 



It was this animal that attracted the attention of Captain Cook and his naturalist, Forster, both 

 describing it, the latter giving it the specific name ofjubata, from the Latin juba (a mane), a feature, 

 however, that some naturalists of the present day are inclined to deny. But the fact is that at that 

 date many exceedingly old, large, and rugged individuals of this species existed which are no longer to 

 be met with. 



Apart from the historical connections attaching to this creature, inasmuch as many famous 

 voyagers' names have been associated with it, in our own generation it is remarkable as that first 

 brought alive to England. The individual in question was latterly purchased by the Zoological 

 Society, and died in their Gardens in 1867, in consequence of having swallowed a fish-hook among the food 

 given to it. This notable animal created an interest in the Eared Seals (hitherto little studied) which 

 since has led to the introduction of several living examples and of different species. To those who only 

 knew the Seal tribe from the common sort, this Otaria seemed a marvel of docility, and at a glance most 

 distinct in appearance, habits, and intelligence from anything heretofore exhibited. It was originally 

 captured in the neighbourhood of Cape Horn, and FranQois Lecomte, the French sailor into whose pos- 

 session it fell, exhibited the animal for a short time in Buenos Ayres before bringing it to London, where 

 for a time he earned a living by showing it off. By kindness and dint of training he taught it to become 

 quite a performer in its way, mounting a ladder with perfect ease, and descending indifferently, head 

 or tail foremost. It fired a small cannon, and went through several other performances indicative of 

 the teachableness of its disposition and the successful assiduity of its trainer. From being cribbed, 

 cabined, and confined, the animal, on its transference to the Zoological Gardens, was allowed the use of 

 a spacious pond, and along with others of the Seal tribe exhibited greater freedom and naturalness of 

 habit. So well known have its appearance and little tricks of mounting chairs, catching with open 

 mouth fish thrown towards it, kissing its keeper, and so on, become, that it is needless to enter 

 upon a detailed account of these matters. There is no doubt, however, that this animal, and 

 * Otaria albicollis, the Neophoca lobata of Gray. f Otaria jubata. 



