226 CARNIVORA. 



owing to the difficulty in tlioroughly extracting the salt 

 from the pelt, except by a more expensive process ; and, 

 besides, afforded little warmth to the wearer, owing to 

 the spare amount of fur on the skin. Third or fourth 

 quality Mink, Yearling Sheep or Tuluppen, Koala or 

 Wallaby, would have comljined lightness with dura- 

 bility and warmth, and were also cheap ; or perhaps the 

 Reindeer skins as prepared by the Esquimaux would 

 have surpassed them all. 



The skins, on arriving at a dresser's factory, are 

 blubbered, that is, the fat remaining on the skins and 

 the dirt are removed ; they are washed in large tubs of 

 alkali and soap, wrung dry, stretched on hoops, and 

 dried in the hot room. They are next softened, and the 

 final process, before or after dyeing, is shaving and 

 cleaning, which is performed with sharp two-bladed 

 knives like tanner's paring knives. 



According to Lady Blake {Ni)ietee>it]i Ceutii)-i/, p. 577), 

 Hoods and Harp Seals are never found in the same floe. 

 Hooded Seals are always found to the eastwards of 

 Harps, but the young are born two or three weeks later. 



SEA-LEOPARD. 



Le])t<niij.i; ireddcU. 



The Sea-Leopard is the largest of all the Hair or true 

 Seals, being from 8 to 15 feet long, and its skin is 

 very valuable for leather purposes. It inhabits the 

 South Shetland and Auckland Islands, and the Antarctic 

 Ocean. The general colour is yellow with numerous 

 small spots, both dark and light, these markings being 

 beautifully contrasted, and extending to the belly. A 



