THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



pointed, and flattened at the top, perhaps ten feet 

 in length, the upper jaw projecting considerably." 



With regard to the "mane." The great Phoca 

 proboscidea is the only seal which will bear com- 

 parison with the DjxlaliiB animal in dimensions, 

 reaching from twenty to thirty feet. H.M. officers 

 declare that upwards of sixty feet of their animal 

 were visible at the surface; but Mr. Owen sup- 

 poses, not improbably, that the disturbance of the 

 water produced by progression induced an illusive 

 appearance of a portion of this length. But how 

 much? Suppose all behind thirty feet, the extreme 

 length of the elephant seal. Then it is impossible 

 the animal could have been such a seal, for the 

 following reason. The fore paws of the seal are 

 placed at about one-third of the total length from 

 the muzzle ; that is, in a seal of thirty feet long, 

 at ten feet behind the muzzle. But twenty feet of 

 the "serpent" were projected from the water, and 

 yet no appearance of fins was seen. Lieutenant 

 Drummond judges the head to have been ten feet 

 in length (with which the lower figure, assuming 

 sixty or sixty-five feet as the total length drawn, 

 well agrees;) and besides this, at least an equal 

 length of neck was exposed. 



But the great Phocn proboscidea has no mane 

 at all. For this, we must have recourse to other 

 species, known as sea-lions. Two kinds are recog- 

 nised under this name, Otaria jubata and Pla- 

 tyrhynchus leoninus; though there is some con- 

 fusion in the names. Neither of these ever exceeds 

 sixteen feet in total length, of which, about five 

 feet would be the utmost that could project from 

 the water in swimming. Suppose, however, the 

 eyes of the gallant officers to have magnified the 

 leonine seal to sufficient dimensions; I fear even 

 then it will not do. For the mane in these ani- 

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