HABITS 01* SEA LIONS. 73 



from any cause it is a case of sauve qui peut, every seal for himself or herself, no 

 matter what happens to the next one. 



The mother takes little or no interest in her offspring, unless it be immediately 

 after birth, and here my own experience is limited. The cows are said to lift the 

 newly born pups out of uncomfortable or dangerous places, but the few seen during 

 the summer of 1896 seemed to evince little regard for the welfare of their offspring, 

 and if a pup with the placenta still attached became caught in the rocks tlie mother 

 simply looked at it and left it to do the best it could. 



A curious instance of lack of care and lack of intelligence was noted by Mr. 

 Clark, who found a pup whose abnormally large umbilical cord had caught among the 

 rocks and held him fast. It had never occurred to the cow to bite through the cord 

 and release her offspring, although the size of the pup indicated that it had been there 

 some time. On the other hand, the condition of the young seal showed that it had 

 been well fed, for nursing comes by instinct and calls for no display of reason. When 

 the umbilical cord was severed toe pup staggered away, almost unable to walk 

 through having had no previous experience in that line. 



The cows do pay some attention to their pups while nursing, and will often search 

 long and carefully for their own, nosing among the pods of sleeping pups; but here 

 again it must be remembered that the discomfort caused by the distension of the 

 udder is a stimulating cause, and that the cow's motive is not entirely unseltish. But, 

 again, a female will content herself with simi)le bleating for the pup, and if he does 

 not come will climb on a stone and go to sleep with the utmost tranquillity. Now and 

 then, however, one sees a touch of human nature among the seals, as when a cow 

 deliberately bit two pups for the apparent reason that her own offspring did not 

 respond promptly to her call, and when a defeated bull consoled himself by biting a 

 cow. The comfort of the pup is of little moment to the cow; her own comfort is a 

 much more important matter, and she will lie in the water where the youngster is 

 submerged by every heavy sea, or on a stone where the pup can scarcely reach 

 her, without the least concern. A cow just in from sea came to the head of "the 

 slide," followed by a very hungry pup, and then climbed on a high stone and lay down. 

 The pup tried in vain to follow, for, standing on his hind flippers, his nose reached 

 only to the top of the rock, and there he stood bleating for something to eat. The 

 mother looked over the edge as much as to say, " I'm sorry for you, but really I can . 

 do nothing," and then lay down again. She did, a little later, descend from her perch, 

 but not finding a place to suit, returned in five minutes, and at the end of half an 

 hour was dozing comfortably, while the pup still stood on his hind legs expostulating 

 in vain. 



As for the cow taking sufficient interest in her offspring to teach it toswim, or in 

 any way to care for itself, this is the sheere? t nonsense. The seals are firm believers 

 iu the doctrine of laissez faire, enforcing . leir principles with tooth and flipper. 

 Every seal looks after itself, and death promi>(^y overtakes the hindmost. 



At first glance the sea lion might seem less intelligent than the fur seal; but in all 

 mental attributes the latter compares unfavorably with his big relative, who is social 

 and affectionate in its disposition, and wary by nature. The sea lions breed earlier in 

 the season than the fur seal, so it was not our privilege to witness their behavior at 

 this time; but in August bulls, cows, and pups haul out together in perfect amity, 



