514 



NATURE 



\April 29, 1875 



Pribjlov Islands * affirm that one oU male seal, recognised by 

 the loss of one of his Hippers, returned seventeen years in succes- 

 sion. The ground tiiiy occupy, called a "rookery," is the 

 space between the high- water line and the foot of the clilTs. The 

 sandy beach forn:i3 the play-ground for the pups, the uplands 

 being their sleeping places. Like the bees, they are 

 " Creatures that, by rule in nature, teach 

 The art of order to a peopled kingdom." 

 The arrangement of their dominions are adopted by common 

 consent, and enforced by the elders with much severity. The 

 old males and tlie full-grown females are alone allowed upon the 

 rookeries ; the young seals swim about during the day, at night 

 retiring to the uplands. The natives of the Pribylov Islands 

 called the old males " Married Seals," the old females 

 " Mothers," and the young females " Bachelors." 



Daring the winter months the rookeries of the Pribylov 

 Islands are entirely deserted, except by a few stragglers ; but 

 Capt. Musgrave, who was wrecked on the Auckland Islands, 

 south of New Zealand, tells us that there numbers remain all 

 the year round. In the spring a few old veteran males — ^the 

 chiefs ot the herd — make their appearance near the islands, 

 swimming about for several days. If all is safe, they land snd 

 examine the rookery ; they depart for a few days, and return 

 accomjianied by a number of other veteran males. These land, 

 each taking up a position, reserving for himself a space ot about 

 thirty square yards, which he delends against all comers. About 

 two months later the females begin to make their appearance. 

 It is the duty of the " Bachelors " to drive them on to the 

 rocks, ttie nearest adult male going down to meet each female, 

 coaxing her until he can get between her and the shore. 

 His manner then immediately changes, and with an angry growl 

 he drives her up to his resting-place. It seems to be the object 

 of each of these polygamous sultans to attach to himself a 

 harem of from fifteen to twenty wives. When the males nearest 

 the water have made their ctioice, those in the next row higher 

 up watch for an opportunity to steal the wives of their more 

 fortunate neighbours. When all the females have landed and 

 been distributed among the claimants, no further change takes 

 place, each sultan walking round and round his family and 

 driving off all intruders. This is the account given by Capt. 

 Bryant, commander of the station at the Pribylov Islands. 

 Capt. Musgrave, in his account of the Seals of the southern 

 hemisphere, does not indicate that this jealous distribution is 

 so customary. 



The cubs are born a few days after the arrival 'of their 

 mothers, and always on shore. They have a great aversion for 

 the water at first, and are taught to swim by their mothers. It 

 is a most curious fact that during all the while these creatures are 

 on ihore they remain absolutely without food ; they arrive 

 excessively fat, and, as is not surprising after a fast of two 

 months, depart extremely lean. When the young can shift for 

 themselves the rookeries are broken up. 



Respecting the different species of these Sea Lions and their 

 geographical distribution, Magellan, in 1519, was the first to 

 notice their chief peculiarities. He found them on an island 

 south of the River Plate, and called them Sea Wolves. No 

 naturalist, however, distinguished them from the Seals proper, 

 with the exception of the Russian Steller, who, visiting the 

 Aleutian Islands in the middle of the last century, saw the two 

 species which are found there, and described them as the Sea 

 Bear and the Sea Lion. Linnaeus, in 1758, nevertheless in- 

 cluded them all in his genus Phoca, and it was not till iSoo that 

 Peron again separated them. Subsequently, they have been mi- 

 nutely studied by Dr. J. E. Gray, and Dr. Peters of Berlin. Both 

 these authors, however, have been far too fond of making new 

 genera and species upon single skulls, or even single skins. It 

 seems to me better to retain Peron's original genus Otaria for the 

 whole group, the number of species of which amount to nine. True 

 Seals inhabit the Arctic and Antarctic seas, as well as the tempe- 

 rate regions in both hemispheres, together with the Antilles and 

 Madeura. The Otarias are more tolerant of warmth, and are 

 apparently more susceptible to changes of climate. A remark- 

 able fact about their distribution is that none are found in the 

 Atlantic, except in its extreme south. From the mouth of the 

 River Plate they extend all round the coasts of South America 

 and the adjoining islands. Proceeding north, they are numerous 

 upon the coast of California, and extend round by the Aleutian 

 Islands to the coast of Japan. Their most northern kno%vn 

 station is that of the Pribylov Islands; further investigation 

 * Situated in Behring Sea. 



will perhaps reveal their existence in some of the isliiuls north 

 and south of the equator in the Pacific Ocean. They are found 

 all round the coasts of New Zealand, the Aucklands, Tasmania, 

 and Southern Australia. They are said to inhabit Kerguelen's 

 Land and the Crozets : we also know that there is one species 

 at least near Capetown, a specimen from that locality being 

 now alive in the Zoological Gardens. 



( To be continued. ) 



NOTES 



An appeal is being made by the Committee for the E.tplora- 

 tion of the Victoria Cave, Settle, for additional funds ; the work, 

 we much regret to say, being actually at a stop from want of 

 means. This is not as it should be, and we feel sure that the 

 state of matters only needs to be made known to the scientific 

 public in order to have it remedied. The importance of these 

 explorations need not be insisted on in these pages ; results have 

 been already achieved of the highest value to the geologist, the 

 historian, and the antiquary. What further records may be 

 found at the cave in lower and earlier deposits Hhan those yet 

 investigated, is a question which can only be solved by actual 

 work. The bottom of the cave has never yet been reached. The 

 series of bones obtained during the past year is exceedingly fine, 

 and may challenge comparison with any in the kingdom ; and 

 altogether the work, besides bearing already' many important 

 results, is one of great promise. The British Association have 

 given three several grants of 50/., but by far the greater share of 

 the expense has fallen on a few individuals who have contributed 

 liberally. This should be so no longer, and we earnestly hope 

 that all our readers will do what they can to help forward an 

 undertaking of so' great importance. Subscriptions should be 

 forwarded to John Birkbeck, jun., hon. treasurer of the " Settle 

 Caves Exploration Fund," the Craven Bank, Settle, Yorkshire. 



A TELEGRAM dated Bombay, April 22, states that the mem- 

 bers of the Solar Eclipse Expedition have left that place on their 

 return to England. 



News is to hand of a recent volcanic eruption in Iceland ; 

 the following particulars we gather from the Icelandic corre- 

 spondent of the Scotsman : — Shortly before Christmas 1S74 

 earthquakes were experienced over the north-east part of Ice- 

 land. About Christmas, columns of smoke were seen rising, 

 and therefore a party were sent fron the My-vatn on the 15th 

 of January to reconnoitre. They went straight southwards over 

 Odadahravn, and made for the Dyngjufjoll. The DyngjufjoU 

 form a circle of mountains, and within this circle there is a lava 

 stretch called Askja (The Box). Here the exploring party found 

 the eruption to have taken place, and they state that a large 

 crater has been formed, from which lava and clay are being 

 thrown himdreds of feet upwards. They found many small 

 craters grouped round the big one, and from several of these water 

 was flowing. All around the earth was rent into large fissures, 

 and at some places it had subsided to a considerable extent. Since 

 this visit, the column of smoke has been seen daily in clear 

 weather, and slight earthquakes have been felt at intervals. On 

 the nighi of the iSth February, the gleam of a great fire was 

 seen from Grimsstodum, in a western direction. A new ex- 

 ploring party found the fire to be twenty miles from the 

 inhabited district, to the west of the so-called Sveinagia, in the 

 AusturfjoUmii. The eruption had taken place from several 

 craters. Some have piled up the lava around them into shapes 

 resembling castles ; from others the lava had flowed in a stream, 

 and formed a lava-field of large extent. Most of the craters were 

 smoking when the party arrived. The lava stream from all the 

 craters is between two and three miles long, and from 600 to 

 800 yards broad. At many places the glowing fire was seen on 

 looking down through the fissures, and the crust was found to be 

 two or three feet thick. In two or three places small hollow 



