208 MAMMALIA—ELEPHANT SEAL. 
TIE. FETED SEALS 
Tus seal, when full grown, is about four feet anda 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 never 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) ORAELEPAH AMT. Shei 
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 ene 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, which 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 sentu- 
1 Phoca fetida, Mut. 2 Phoca ansonii, Desm. 
