232 THE OCEAN. 
of Seal that many vessels are sent to the islands of 
the Pacific, and to the icy regions of the Antarctic 
Ocean. Its skin, though serviceable as leather for 
harness, &c., yields no fur, being clothed only with 
coarse hair. The oil, however, is of a very superior 
quality; it is clear and limpid, without any smell, 
and never becomes rancid; it burns slowly, and 
without smoke or disagreeable odour. The hunters 
destroy the animals with long lances: watching the 
instant when the Seal raises the left forepaw to ad- 
vance, they plunge the lance into its heart, when it 
immediately dies. The fat is then peeled from the 
- carcass, and cut up and packed in casks in a similar 
manner to that of the Whale. 
The soft yellow fur, with a changeable gloss, which 
a few years ago was so much made into caps, is 
another product of a South Sea voyage. It is the 
covering of more than one species of Seal, belonging 
to a tribe called Otaries, because their heads are 
furnished with external ears, of which the others 
are deprived. That which is by eminence called the 
Fur-Seal (Otaria Falklandica), is clothed externally 
with long hair of a grey hue; but when this hair is 
pulled out, there is seen-a thick fur of great soft- 
ness, curly or wavy, and of a fine yellowish brown. 
The habits of this animal are in general similar to 
those of the Sea-Elephant just described: it is, how- 
ever, much more active on land, often escaping from 
aman running. Its history affords us an instance of 
change of instincts produced by experience. When 
the Seals of South Shetland were first visited, they 
had no apprehension of danger from man; but would 
