94 VEKTEBRATES. 



migration taking place in June. There are many seals known 

 among which are the Sea Leopard, a spotted species ; the Harp 

 Seal, so called because the markings on its back something re- 

 semble a lyre; and the Sea Lion. 



The Bottle-nosed Seal is usually found in the seas 

 around New Zealand, the island of Juan Fernandez, and the Falk- 

 land Islands. The male of this species measures from fifteen to 

 twenty feet in length, and difiers from the female in having a large 

 snout, which projects five or six inches beyond the extremity of 

 the upper jaw, and which, when irritated, it inflates, so as to give 

 to it the appearance of an arched or hooked nose. The quantity 

 of blubber contained between the skin and the flesh is so great, it 

 being at least a foot in depth in the largest, that the animal, when 

 in motion, looks like an immense skin filled with oil. This quan- 

 tity of fat probably contributes to render the Bottle-nosed Seal of 

 so lethargic a disposition, that it cannot readily be compelled to 

 move, and, consequently, is easily killed. It divides its time 

 almost equally between the land and sea, and lives in herds, each 

 of which seems to be under the direction of a large male, which 

 seamen term the Bashaw, from the circumstance of his driving 

 away females from the other males, and appropriating them to him- 

 self. At a distance from each herd, some of the males are placed 

 as sentinels, and by them the alarm is loudly given in case of 

 danger. 



The Waleus inhabits the northern seas, but has been known 

 to visit the British coast. Three instances of this have happened, 

 one in 1817, one in 1825 at the Orkney Isles, and a third in 1839 

 at the mouth of the Severn. The most remarkable point in the 

 Walrus is the great length of two of its upper teeth, which extend 

 downwards for nearly two feet, and resemble the tusks of the ele- 

 phant. They furnish very fine ivory, and are extensively used by 

 dentists in making artificial teeth, as teeth made from them remain 

 white much longer than those made from the tusks of elephants. 

 These tusks are used by the Walrus for climbing the rocks or heaps 

 of ice, and also for digging up the sea-weeds on which the animal 

 mostly subsists. It will also eat shrimps and young seals. 



