THE SEA LION; 



sleep they open their mouths in a threatening manner, but do not seem to think of using 

 their teeth, and if they find that their disturbers do not run away, they take that office 

 upon themselves, and move off deliberately for the water. As they proceed their huge 

 bodies tremble like masses of jelly, in consequence of the fat with which they are so 

 heavily laden. So plentiful is this fat, that a single adult male will furnish about seventy 

 gallons of clear and scentless oil. 



The extraordinary development of the nose, which gives so weird-like a character to the 

 aspect of the Elephant Seal, is only found in the adult males, and even in them is not 

 very perceptible unless the animal is alarmed or excited. While the creature is undis- 

 turbed, the nose only looks peculiarly large and heavy, as may be seen in the figures that 

 occupy the background of the illustration on page 517. As soon, however, as the animal 

 becomes excited, it protrudes this proboscis-like nose, blows through it with great violence 

 and assumes a very formidable appearance. The female is entirely destitute of this 

 structure, and except for its enormous dimensions, might be mistaken for an ordinary 

 Seal. In the male it does not make its appearance until the third year. 



SEA LION. Otarla Jubata. 



The Elephant Seal is easily tamed when taken young and displays great affection 

 towards a kind master. One of these animals was tamed by an English seaman, and would 

 permit its master to mount upon its back, or to put his hand into its mouth without doing 

 him any injury. 



The teeth of this animal are very curious in their formation, especially the molar teeth, 

 which are small, and pointed with a kind of mushroom-like apex. The canines are very 

 large. The whisker hairs are very coarse and long, and are furnished with a raised margin, 

 which gives them the appearance of being twisted like a screw. The food of the Elephant 

 Seal is supposed to consist chiefly of cuttle-fish and sea-weed, as the remains of both these 

 substances are generally found in the stomachs of those that are killed. 



HARDLY less ferocious in aspect than the preceding animal is the SEA LION, of 

 Kamtschatka and the Kurile islands. 



It is of a very large size, although not of such gigantic proportions as the sea elephant 

 measuring about fifteen feet in length, and weighing about sixteen hundred pounds. The 



