KEMAKKS ABOUT SEALS. 



293 



mane,, and gives them a very striking resemblance to a lion. 

 At the Capo fisheries it was not an unusual thing for the 

 fishermen to find, on opening these Otarur, a bag containing 

 a quantity of stones. Here is a good specimen, which I 

 will hand round shortly. Now for what are those stones ? 

 What purpose do thoy subserve in the animal economy ? 



The tradition among the fishermen is, that these stones, 

 or pebbles, are taken in by the animal to make " ballast " ; 

 and they assert moreover that this bag is not the stomach, 

 but a separate receptacle, which they call the " ballast-bag." 

 They say that when the seals get very fat they cannot sink 

 easily in deep water, because specifically they become 

 lighter, and hence to counteract this difficulty they swallow 

 stones to increase their specific gravity. Now I am sure 

 you will agree with me that this theory is a very pretty 

 one — it is almost romantic ; and if we can only back it up 

 with facts or corroborative testimony, why I, for one, should 

 have great pleasure in accepting it, swallowing it as easily 

 as the seals seem to do these pebbles here. 



Well, I was in conversation with Mr. Bindley one even- 

 ing, and our talk was a good deal about birds and animals ; 

 for we had spent a most delightful time at the Newcastle 

 Museum, where wo had seen some of the most beautifully 

 stuffed and arranged birds it has ever been my good fortune 

 to see ; especially I refer to those the work of Mr. Hand- 

 cock, who is acknowledged to be the prince of bird-stuffers. 



Suddenly my cousin said, " Have you over seen the 

 ' ballast-bag ' of a seal ? " I exclaimed, " No ; what do you 

 moan ? " He said, " I will show you." And he then brought 

 out tliis specimen which I have before me, told ine its 

 history, and of course the fishermen's pretty legend, 



I was very much astonished, for I had never heard of 

 such a thing before ; but I naturally quickly associated my 



