752 MR. J. W. CLARK ON THE EARED [Nov. 18, 



subsequently (p. 142) he identifies them with the Sea-lions, of 

 which he gives a detailed account in an appendix. He apparently 

 paid little or no attention to the " Black Seal," but beguiled the 

 tedium of his miserable captivity by noting the habits of the other 

 species, in which, as they were the chief article of food of himself 

 and his companions, he took a grateful interest. He says, " We 

 eat the cow and the calf Tiger Seals : the Black Seal is not good ; 

 and the bulls are all very rank" (p. 11). Again : " Not very long 

 ago we thought it would be impossible to eat this kind of Seal (the 

 Black Seal) : and indeed they are not by any means fit for food ; for 

 the strong smell of the meat is enough not only to disgust, but to 

 stifle a person" (p. 67. Compare also p. 6). 



In an appendix he gives " An account of the Sea-lion and its 

 habits" (p. 141 sq.), from which I extract the most important por- 

 tions : — 



" The females are of a grey, golden buff, or beautiful silver colour, 

 sometimes spotted like the Leopard, and are called Tiger Seals. 

 Their fur is about an inch long, not very soft, but very thick, and 

 particularly sleek and smooth .... On the upper lip, on each side, 

 are thirty bristles (they seldom deviate from this number), of a hard 

 horny nature, and resembling tortoise-shell in appearance, from 6 to 

 8 inches long, gradually decreasing as they approach the nose to lg 

 or 2 inches in length. 



" The males are uniformly of a blackish grey colour. The fur and 

 skin are superior to those of the female, being much thicker, and the 

 former finer from the shoulders backwards, though not so pretty. 

 On the neck and shoulders he has a thicker, longer, and much coarser 

 coat of fur, which may almost be termed bristles. It is from 3 to 



4 inches long, and can be ruffled up and made to stand erect at will." 

 A male " of a medium size " will measure about 6 feet from nose 



to tail, and about 6 or 7 feet in circumference, and weigh about 



5 cwt. The females are " proportionatelv smaller " than the bulls 

 (p. 142^.). 



One of the most interesting details that he gives concerns their 

 movements upon land. He says, " They go roaring about the woods 

 like wild cattle" (p. 5). "They run very fast in the bush" (p. 10). 

 " We were in a thick bush, so that he (an old Tiger Seal) had a 

 decided advantage" (p. 18). "When they are on shore they can 

 run surprisingly fast ; on a hard, smooth beach they can run 

 nearly as fast as a man ; and in the bush, or long grass, they can get 

 along much faster. They can also climb up rocky cliffs and steep 

 slippery banks that would be inaccessible to man" (p. 149). " The 

 bulls are very bold, and will come out of the water and chase us. 

 They are particularly fierce" (p. 78). On going up a mountain to 

 the N.E. of the tent, "I found Seal-tracks," he says, " nearly to the 

 top, which I reckon is about four miles from the water ; and about 

 three miles up I saw a Seal" (p. 9). 



To this may be added the description of Mr. Morris, for many 

 years a sealer by profession, and now residing in Sydney : — "Adult 

 male or wig uniformly blackish ; pups born black ; after a few weeks 



