ELEPHANT-SEALS OF KERGUELEN LAND. 431 



23. The Elepliant-Seals o£ Kerguelen Land. 

 By T. P. A. Ring*. 



[Received November 21, 1922 : Read March 6, 1923.] 



(Plates I. & Il.t) 



The hunting of the Elephant-Seals of the southern hemisphere, 

 on a scale which threatens these interesting animals with 

 extinction, began at the South Georgia group of islands in the 

 South Atlantic, which are under the jurisdiction of Great 

 Britain, and form part of the Falkland Islands dependencies. 



A factory for whaling was established in the year 1905-6, by a 

 Norwegian, Captain C. A. Larsen, of Antarctic exploration fame. 

 This enterprise proved so successful that other establishments for 

 utilizing the larger cetacea were soon erected. Asa " side-issue," 

 the capture of the Elephant-Seals was also included, and in con- 

 sequence their numbers must have been so reduced that, unless 

 the British Government introduce legislation forbidding the 

 capture of these animals for, say, 10 years, they will become 

 extinct. Such legislation ought also to embrace the protection 

 of the Fur-Seals. 



At the Crozet Islands, situated in the South Indian Ocean, 

 and which are under the jurisdiction of France, a Norwegian 

 steam sealing-factory made a great haul of Elephant-Seals in 

 1907, and three years later a French floating-factory cleared the 

 beaches of the remnant left by the Norwegian vessel. In the 

 year 1908 a Norwegian company established a whaling factory at 

 Kerguelen Land in the South Indian Ocean. This also is a 

 possession of France, and in the course of four years (1909-1913) 

 Elephant-Seals were killed in such great numbers that, unless 

 the Government of France takes steps for protecting them from 

 destruction by enforcing strict protection, say for 10 years, their 

 extermination is practically certain. The Elephant-Seals and 

 Fur- Seals of Marion, Prince Edward, and the Crozet Islands 

 should be similarly protected. 



The transport vessel of the Kerguelen Whaling Company, 

 the S.S. ' Jeanne d'Arc,' arrived at the Island with all the 

 paraphernalia for establishing a whaling factory, on the 29th of 

 October, 1908, coming to an anchor in Gazelle Basin, a fine 

 harbour situated centrally on Kerguelen Land. During the 

 fortnight following, the vessel visited a great many bays looking 

 for a suitable site for putting up the factory, which finally was 

 established to the west of Long Island in Royal Sound, thus 

 named by Captain James Cook in 1776. On every sandy beach 



* Communicated by Sir S. F. Haemee, K.B.E., F.E.S., P.Z.S. 

 4" For explanation of tbe Plates, see p. 443. 



