n8 



CARNIVORES. 



sometimes a few may do this for a few seasons. " From the time of the first 

 arrival in May, up to the first of June, or as late as the middle of the month," 

 writes Mr. Elliot, " if the weather be clear, is an interval in which everything seems 

 quiet ; very few seals are added to the pioneers. By the first of June, however, or 

 thereabouts, the foggy humid weather of summer sets in, and with it the bull-seals 

 come up by hundreds and thousands, and locate themselves in advantageous 

 positions for the reception of the females, which are generally three weeks or a 

 month later." Then comes the great struggle for obtaining and maintaining a 

 position on the land, those males which are the last to arrive, and also those 

 occupying the posts nearest the water's edge, having the greatest difficulties to 

 overcome. Frequently the combats which then take place result in death ; while 

 some of the earlier arrivals which have taken up stations near the shore become 

 exhausted by repeated struggles, and have to shift to more inland quarters. " The 

 fighting," says Mr. Elliot, " is mostly or entirely done with the mouth, the opponents 

 seizing each other with the teeth, and clenching the jaws. Nothing but sheer 

 strength can shake them loose and that effect almost always leaves an ugly 

 wound, the sharp canines tearing out deep gutters in the skin and blubber, or 

 shredding the flippers into ribbon-strips." 



During the time that the males are thus engaged in selecting and maintaining 

 their positions, they may be approached from the leeward when asleep so closely as 

 to admit of the bristles on their muzzles being pulled. The adventurous investi- 

 gator is, however, warned that after one such experiment he must beat a hasty 

 retreat, if he would escape an unpleasant mauling from the animal's teeth. 



At this period the males give vent to four distinct cries, namely, a hoarse, 

 resonant, long, and loud roar ; a low, gurgling growl ; a kind of hissing, chuckling, 

 piping whistle, which must be heard to be recognised ; and a kind of spitting sound 

 and action, which is the most characteristic of all. The females, on the other hand, 

 have only a kind of bleating cry, used merely to attract the attention of the cubs ; 

 while the call of the latter is still more sheep-like. Indeed, it is stated that some 

 sheep imported into St. George's were constantly misled by the cries of the females 

 and young seals into believing that others of their own species were in the 

 neighbourhood. The seals when on land are extremely impatient of heat, a 

 temperature of 48° being unpleasant to them ; while when the thermometer ranges 

 from 55° to 60° they appear to suffer great inconvenience. On such occasions they 

 may be seen lying in every conceivable position, industriously fanning themselves 

 with their flippers, sometimes holding the fore-flippers vertically upwards as a 

 kind of ventilator, while one or both of the hinder pair are employed as fans. 



From their first arrival until the end of the pairing season, which terminates 

 during the first third of August, all the males which succeed in maintaining their 

 posts never leave them for a single instant ; and consequently never partake of 

 either food or water for at least three months, while in some instances this fast 

 endures for upwards of four months. During this time they must subsist entirely 

 on their own fat ; and it will not fail of notice that such a fast is very different 

 from that endured by bears and other hibernating animals, during which most of 

 the functions of the body are dormant. Nevertheless, no ill consequences appear to 

 accrue, since the old male sea-bears come back year after year as fat and sleek as ever. 



