r 

 208 MAMMALIA — ELEPHANT SEAL. 



THE FETID SEAL.i 

 This seal, when full grown, is about four feei and a half long, and its 

 skin is covered with a dingy white hair, composed of stiff bristles and soft 

 hair. The old animals are remarkably fetid, and this nauseous odor taints 

 their flesh and fat equally. The fetid seal frequents the fixed ice near 

 frozen lands, and neA^er relinquishes its haunts when old. It has holes in 

 the ice for the purpose of fishing, and is solitary in its habits, pairs being 

 rarely seen together. It is not a timid animal, and is occasionally preyed 

 upon by the eagle, being taken while asleep upon the surface. 



THE SEA LION, OR ELEPHANT SEAL. 2 



To the species of seals, as above described, we may, with great propriety, 

 add another animal, described in Anson's Voyages, by the name of the 

 sea lion. It is found in great numbers on the coasts of the South Sea. 

 The sea lion resembles the sea calf, which is very common in the same 

 latitude ; but they are much larger than any of the former, being from 

 eleven to eighteen feet long, and from eight to eleven in circumference. It 

 is so fat, that when the skin is taken off, the blubber is about a foot thick 

 all round the body. About ninety gallons of oil is drawn from one of these 

 animals; they are at the same time very full of blood, and when deeply 

 wounded in many parts of the body, the blood spouts out with amazing 

 power ; the throat of one of these animals being cut, it afforded two barrels 

 of blood, besides what then remained in its body. Its skin is covered with 

 a short hair of a brownish color, but blackish on the tail and feet : their 

 toes are united by a membrane which does not reach to their extremity ; 

 each of the toes is known by a claw. The sea lion differs from the seal, 

 not only in its size and bulk, but also in some other characters ; the male 

 has a kind of thick comb or trunk hanging from the end of the upper jaw, 

 about five or six inches long, Avhich becomes inflated when the animal is 

 . angry. This character is not seen in the female. The strongest males 

 collect together a flock of females, and hinder the others from approaching 

 them. These animals are truly amphibious ; they remain all the summer 

 in the sea, and go on shore in the winter, at which season the females 

 bring forth their young, but never above one or two at a litter, which they 

 suckle, like the seal. 



The sea lions, while they are on shore, feed on the grass by the side of 

 the sea ; they are of a very heavy and drowsy nature, and delight to sleep 

 in the mire ; but they are very wary, and at those times commonly fix some 

 as sentinels near the place where they sleep ; and it is said, that these senti- 



^ Plu)cafcetida,MvLL. • Phoca ansonii, Desm. 



