68 NATURAL HISTORY OK AQUATIC! ANIMALS. 



the water. They tlieu hid themselves in the shrubbery aloug the beach, and in about ten or fifteen 

 minutes the Seals came on the beach again. The men, armed with axes, sprang upon them, the 

 Seals trying to get into the water again. Two of them were killed, and another one, as one of the 

 men came up to him, turned around and barked furiously at him, which frightened the poor man 

 so badly (he having never seen one before, and knowing nothing of their habits) that ho almost 

 iainted. The Seals are said to be very easily killed or captured alive. They yield a great deal of 

 oil. The skins are very large, but not easy to cure, on account of their fatty substance." In a 

 later letter he refers to their great rarity on the Florida coast, where he says they occur "only 

 once or twice in a life-time," but alludes, to their comparative abundance on the coast of Yucatan, 

 and their occasional occurrence at the Bahama Islands. 



Mr. L. F. de Pourtalfes also informs me that there is a rock on Salt Key Bank, near the Bahamas, 

 called "Dog Rock," presumably from its having been formerly frequented by the Seals. Also, that 

 his pilot, in 1868-'69, told him he had himself killed Seals among the rocky islets of Salt Key 

 Bank. 



I learn from Dr. S. W. Garman, who accompanied Mr. Agassiz during his dredging expedition 

 in the Caribbean Sea, in the United States Coast Survey steamer "Blake," during the winter of 

 1877-'78, that the Seal of those waters is well known to the wreckers and turtle-hunters of that 

 region, and that they often kill it for its oil. He also informs me that these animals had also been 

 frequently seen and killed by one of the officers of the "Blake," especially about the Isle of Pines, 

 south of Cuba, and at the Alacranes, where, as already noted, they occurred in such abundance at the 

 time of Dampier's visit in 1676 as to be extensively hunted for their oil. They are also known to 

 the whalers who visit these waters. 



The specimens described by Messrs. Hill and (xosse were taken at the Pedro Kays, off the 

 southern coast of Jamaica, where thirty years ago they appear to have occurred in considerable 

 numbers. 



On a "Chart of the Environs of Jamaica," published in 1774," as well as on tater maps of this 

 region, are indicated some islets off the Mosquito coast, in about latitude 12° 40', which bear the 

 name " Seal Kays," doubtless in reference to the presence there of these animals. 



It therefore appears that the habitat of the West Indian Seal extends from the northern coast 

 of Yucatan northward to the southern point of Florida, eastward to the Bahamas and Jamaica, 

 and southward along the Central American coast to about latitude 12°. Although known to have 

 been once abundant at some of these localities, it appears to have now well nigh reached extinction, 

 and is doubtless to be found at only a few of the least frequented islets in various portions of the 

 area above indicated. Being still well known to many of the wreckers and turtle-hunters, it seems 

 strange that it should have so long remained almost unknown to naturalists. The only specimen 

 extant in any museum seems to be the imperfect skin transmitted by Mr. Gosse to the British 

 Museum thirty years ago. Consequently, respecting none of the Pinnipeds, at least of the northern 

 hemisphere, is information still so desirable. 



28. THE HOODED SEAL. 



Gbogeaphical distribution and migrations.— The Hooded or Crested Seal, Cystophora 

 cristata (Erxl.) Nilss., is restricted to the colder parts of the North Atlantic and to portions of the 

 Arctic Sea. It ranges from Greenland eastward to Spitzbergen and along the arctic coast of 

 Europe, but is rarely found south of Southern li^Torway and Newfoundland. As is the case with 



'History of Jamaica, vol. i, facing title-page. The work is anonymous, but the authorship is attributed to 

 Edward Long. 



