240 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



TEETH OF THE CRESTED SEAL. 



on the back are black spots and rings of white. The muzzle is hairy, and the hair on the rest of the 

 body long, with thick soft xinder-wool. It visits Greenland in May and June, leaves in July, and 

 again returns in August and September. Fabricius states that they are polygamous. This animal 

 is one which the sealers hunt, it frequenting the outside of the ice-packs. Rink estimates the average 



annual catch in Greenland at 3,000. An individual 

 will yield 120 Ibs. of blubber, and as much as 200 Ibs. 

 of flesh. 



THE ELEPHANT SEAL.* This creature, like the 

 last, has a peculiar geographical range, but is unique, 

 inasmuch as it is found north and south of the 

 equator. It should, however, be stated that Dr. Gill 

 has designated the northern form by a separate name 

 (Macrorhinus angustirostris), though the distinctive 

 characters have as yet not been substantiated by other 

 naturalists. Meantime, we may be justified in re- 

 garding them as one form. It existed formerly in 

 numbers on the Californian coast. But it is best 

 known as frequenting, during the beginning of this 

 century, such islands as Juan Fernandez, the Falk- 

 lands, New Georgia, South Shetlands, Tris 

 d'Acunha, Kerguelen's Land, and, indeed, several 

 the islands scattered in the Antarctic Ocean. In th 



young and females, the characteristic feature, or so-called proboscis, is deficient, but in the old males i 

 extends quite a foot beyond the angle of the mouth, and hence the name of Elephant Seal. Tin 

 females are nine or ten feet, the males fourteen, sixteen, and even twenty feet in length. The colo 

 varies with age from brown to leaden-grey. It seems that they bring forth their young at differen 

 seasons in the southern and northern latitudes, in the latter about May or June, in the former somewha' 

 earlier. Accounts differ as to its food, some saying cuttle-fish and seaweed are its principal nutrimen 

 Lord Anson, Captain Cook, and M. Peron, each give accounts respecting its extraordinary abun 

 dance in southern regions, but their numbers have since been decimated. Captain Scammo: 

 describes them as crawling out of the surf towards the ravines half a mile distant from the water, 

 where they congregated in hundreds. Unless when excited, their movement on land is slowi 

 than that of the ordinary Seals, but they ascend broken elevated ground fifty or sixty feet abov 

 the sea. He says that when sailors are destitute of tobacco-pipes, they hollow its short canim 

 teeth into bowls and use the quills of the Pelican for shanks. Their hunting in Desolation am 

 Herd's Islands is a most exposed and solitary pursuit. The ship is manned with a double crew, 

 and some of the men are landed on the dangerous, ever-stormy coasts of these islands. Food an 

 necessaries are provided, and rude shanties erected of rough boards, tarred canvas, and pieces o: 

 lava-rock. In this dank habitation, planted between an iceberg on the one side and a bluff volcani 

 mountain on the other, they are left to hunt as best they can, in a climate windy, rainy, cold, an< 

 often snowy. Nevertheless, undergoing hardships and privations of no common kind, excitement and 

 prospect of gain compensate for their fatigues and temporary banishment. By the flickerings of a 

 murky oil lamp, and fat and coal diffusing heat, these reckless adventurers pass the long, dreary, cold, 

 evenings in card-playing and boisterous fun. Sea Elephants' tongues and water-fowl are gladly inter- 

 mingled with coarser fare. The men divide themselves into groups, and scour the coast in all direc- 

 tions, killing such numbers as fall in their way. They either transport the blubber and skins to their 

 stores, or bury it for a time until opportunity of its removal is afforded. Afterwards it is placed in 

 casks, and these are rolled by the gangs to the beach, when their vessel arrives. The casks are th 

 launched into the surf, pulled through the rollers by the boats to the ship, where they are duly stowed. 

 In the Californian district, the skin of the animal is ripped up along the back and reflected ; the 

 blubber is cut into " horse-pieces" about a foot square, and a hole made through which a rope is 

 The pieces are again strung on a raft-rope, a line is made fast to this, when they are dragged 

 * Macrorhinus elephantinus ; the genus Morunga of Gray. 



