AMPHIBIAN MILLIONS. 279 



as tliey ever fire. Thus the female is just about one-sixth the size 

 of the male. Aiiiong the sea-lions the proportion is just one-half 

 the bulk of the male, -while the hair-seals, as I have before stated, 

 are not distinguishable in this resi^ect, as far as I could observe, 

 but my notice was limited to a few specimens only. 



The courage with which the fur-seal holds his position as the 

 head and guardian of a family is of the highest order. I have re- 

 peatedly tried to drive them from their harem-posts, when they 

 were fairly established on their stations, and have, with very few 

 exceptions, failed. I might use every stone at my command, 

 making all the noise I could. Finally, to put this courage to its 

 fullest test, I have walked up to within twenty feet of an old 

 veteran, toward the extreme end of Tolstoi, who had only four cows 

 in charge, and commenced with my double-barrelled fowling-piece 

 to i^ej^per him all over with fine mustard-seed shot, being kind 

 enough, in spite of my zeal, not to put out liis eyes. His bearing, 

 in spite of the noise, smell of powder, and ^^''viiifvil irritation which 

 the fine shot must have produced, did not change in the least from 

 the usu.al attitude of determined, ])lucky defence (which nearly all 

 of the bulls assume) when he was attacked with showers of stones and 

 noise. He would dart out right and left with his long neck and 

 catch the timid cows that furtively attempted to run after each re- 

 port of my gun, fling and drag them back to their places luider his 

 head ; and then, stretching up to his iull height, look me directly 

 and defiantly in the face, roaring and chuckling most vehemently'. 

 The cows, however, soon got away from him : they could not 

 endure my racket, in spite of their dread of him. But he still 

 stood his ground, making little charges on me of ten or fifteen 

 feet in a succession of gallops or lunges, spitting furiously, and 

 then comically retreating, with an indescribable leer and swagger, 

 to the old position, back of which he would not go, fully resolved to 

 hold his own or die in the attempt. 



This courage is all the more noteworthy from the fact that, in 

 regard to man, it is invariably of a defensive character. The seal is 

 always on the defensive ; he never retreats, and he will not assail. 

 If he makes you return when yovi attack him he never follows j-ou 

 much farther than the boundary of his station, and then no aggra- 

 vation will compel him to take the offensive, so far as I have been 

 able to observe. I was very much impressed by this trait. 



It is quite beyond my power — indeed, entirely out of the ques- 



