ORDER V. THE CARNIVORA. 213 



crowns are smaller than their roots ; tliey appear like a nipple on the round 

 base which supports them. 



BI. Prohoscidias. — The Proboscis, or Elephant Seal. The specific 

 name of this animal is derived from the peculiar appearance of its short 

 trunk, which is a most singular prolongation of the nostrils. When the 

 animal is reposing in tran(piillity, the snout or proboscis is shrivelled like a 

 bladder from which the air has been discharged, and, falling downward to 

 the mouth, makes the fiice appear much larger than it is ; but when the seal 

 is excited or enraged, the trunk at once assumes a tube-like shape, and is 

 elongated to the length of about a foot. This erection of the proboscis not 

 only changes the countenance in a remarkable manner, but effects also an 

 extraordinary modification of the voice. Tlie females are not furnished with 

 this organ. According to Peron's description, this animal is of a grayish 

 color, is adorned with extensive whiskers, composed of long, coarse hairs, 

 twisted into a screw-like form, with other similar hairs over the eyes, which 

 are extremely large and prominent. The swimming paws are very powerful, 

 having at their margin five small nails. The tail is short, and nearly cou- 

 cealcd between two flat, horizontal fins. 



But the enormous size of this creature strikes the beholder with amaze- 

 ment, and entitles it to the name of Elephant iScal far more than its promi- 

 nent forehead and erectile trunk. The largest ele[ihant of India is a diminu- 

 tive brute in comparison with this gigantic amphibian, whose huge, unwieldy 

 bulk is more than double that of the former animal, often attaining a length 

 of thirty feet, with proportions of equal magnitude. Nature has estaljlished 

 the home of the species in the Southern and Atlantic Oceans, between 35° 

 and 55° of south latitude, among the most desolate islands ; it does not, how- 

 ever, frequent all the islands of a group indiscriminately, but by some unac- 

 countable instinct selects a few out of the many, carcfidly and persistently 

 avoiding all the others. No explanation of this strange proceeding has ever 

 been proposed which can be considered satisfactory. 



But the sea elephant does not confine itself to the inhospitable shores of 

 its native haunts, for as the wintry storms begin to liowl over the southern 

 seas, we find it moving towards the north, in search of a milder climate 

 and more abundant forage ; and then again, when summer glows on the 

 more northern shores, and spreads its splendors over the billows, it sets out 

 on its homeward journey, panting for the cooler breezes of Kerquclen's 

 Land and South Georgia's Isles. A month after this voyage, Peron informs 

 us, the females begin to bring forth their young, one at a birth, according to 

 this distinguished traveller, or two, if Anson's statement is to be relied on. 

 The young at birth are between four and five feet long, and weigh seventy 

 pounds. In suckling it the mother reclines upon her side. The period of 



