434 MR. T. p. A. RING ON THE 



in bog-holes, chiefly above Cape Digby on the lowland, where the 

 animals were wallowing about like so many crocodiles. Fighting- 

 would be the usual pastime in rainy weather ; but with the sun 

 out, they were chiefly engaged in throwing up mud and sand on 

 to their backs with a backward sweep of the fore-flippers, so 

 that the body was entirely covered. It being too hot to fight, 

 they would also chase each other about and play at pairing. 

 Instead of going up the slopes some seals seemed to prefer lying 

 among the boulders forming the talus, at certain parts of the 

 coast-line, and the grey, clumsy shapes of the animals were diffi- 

 cult to distinguish from the boulders. 



By the end of March, and in the beginning of April 1909, the 

 Elephant- Seals were coming down to the beaches again : travel- 

 ling leisurely, and having bouts of contests as shown by their 

 tracks and the downtrodden mud. 



The gathering of the clans took place on the beaches, the seals 

 departing in comjaanies on their four to five months' tour of 

 migration, but unfortunately it was impossible to ascertain if the 

 males and females travelled together or separately. By the 1st 

 of June the beaches had become deserted ; but some seals, males 

 and females, were seen to remain behind and winter over, the 

 animals probably suffering from some disease or other. Snow 

 did not affect them much and thej'' were lying on the beaches as 

 well as in the shallows, covered with snow, and looking like so 

 many logs of timber, When asleep in the water the heads of 

 the seals were sometimes visible, and at other times submerged, 

 and for hours they would remain asleep without stirring. When 

 a snap of frost set in the beaches wei'e deserted, the temperature 

 of the water being more congenial than that of the air. 



It has been mentioned that after their tour of recuperation 

 the seals were in splendid condition : and that the}^ travel far 

 has been proved ; the late Captain Robert Falcon Scott having 

 observed Elephant-Seals at South Victoria Land in latitude 

 77° 50' South, during the Antarctic summer. The animals fed 

 themselves well when travelling, as shown by their sleekness 

 when hauling on land again ; and when returning after their five 

 months' voyage of migration, the seals were in even a better 

 condition. Their route is unknown, as no congregations of seals 

 have ever been met with by vessels " running the easting down " 

 in the latitudes of the roaring forties, and the probability is that 

 these animals resort to the regions of the pack-ice during the 

 winter, unless they perform a round voyage, like the hump-back 

 whales, or follow the route of migrating fishes. They may, of 

 course, visit unknown feeding-banks ; but the pack-ice seems a 

 more likely region where an abundance of food may be found, 

 and the seals are safer from their chief enemy, the prowling 

 Orca gladiator. Several of these feiocious "Dolphins" were 

 seen cruising in the fjords of Kerguelen Land, and many a seal 

 had deep cuts which only could have been inflicted by a powerful 

 beast like the " Killer- Whale." 



