THE SOUTH AFRICAN FUR SEAL. 



229 



r 



FALKLAND ISLAND FUK SEAL. 



then they occupy irregularly the land and water for several weeks. Towards the close of August the 

 herds of young Seals of both sexes again return on shore for a few weeks, and retire ultimately to the 

 water, to be succeeded by the old and more powerful males, as above stated. Excepting the difference 

 of season, their habits much resemble those of 0. ursinus. As in the other Otaries, colour varies with 

 age. The darker tint of the young, as they grow older, tones down to a rich brown, with the under 

 parts yellow, the hairs being tipped with greyish-white. The hairs are by no means so strong as in 

 the Hair Seals, while the under-fur is thick, soft, and of a ruddy brown hue. Their skins are among 

 the most valuable in the market. 



THE SOUTH AFRICAN, OR CAPE FUR SEAL.* We are still, as Mr. J. W. Clark remarked a 

 few years ago, in a " lamentable state of ignorance about the Sea Lions of the Cape of Good Hope 



indeed, we cannot say with certainty whether there are one or two species though, from that 



centre of trade, cargoes of 60,000 or 70,000 skins come annually to the London market." In 

 1875, the Zoological Society obtained, presented through Sir Henry Barkly, a living specimen 

 of Sea Lion, taken at the Cape, which was smaller in size than the Patagonian Sea Lion (O.jubatd) 

 exhibited along with it. This individual had a whitish-red coat, grizzled with blackish hairs, 

 the under side of the body, as likewise the short fur, being of a richer reddish-brown. When 

 it came out of the water, its then sleek skin closely resembled that of the latter well-known 

 example of a Hair Seal. The process of dressing the skin we have already described, doubtless, 

 I would bring out the fact of its possessing the rich fur coat not obvious in the living animal. This 

 J would appear to agree with the barely adult stage of the animal. Flat skins, apparently of this 



ime species from the Cape, figure largely in the trade sales, and those similar to the above in age are 

 chnically called " middlings." The smaller sorts of the sale catalogue, " pups," or " black pups," have 

 smooth, soft, polished, black hairs more ruddy beneath. The large skins with a slight mane, the 

 " large wigs" of the dealers, have whitish fur intermixed with black hairs and short reddish under-fur. 

 | The habits of the live animal in confinement quite resemble those of the other Sea Lions living 



longside. 



THE NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL.t The investigations of Mr. J. W. Clark ("Proceedings of 

 :he Zoological Society," 1875) tend to the conclusion that the Fur Seals originally met with by 

 Captain Cook on the shores of New Zealand, and also by him and Flinders in Bass's Strait 



Otaria pusilla, the ArctocephcJus antarcticus of Gray. 



f Otaria Forsteri, the Gypsophoca tropicalis of Gray. 



