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go into the water — that being one of their natural instincts — but 

 strange to say such is not the case ; it is only with the greatest difficulty 

 and a wonderful display of patience thatthe mother succeeds in getting 

 her young in for the first time. I have known a cow to be three days 

 getting her calf down half a mile, and into the water ; and what is 

 most surprising of all, it cannot swim when it is in the water ; this is 

 the most amusing fact : the mother gets it on her back, and swims 

 along very gently on the top of the water ; but the poor little thing is 

 bleating aU the while, and continually falling from its slippery position, 

 when it will splutter about in the water precisely like a little boy who 

 gets beyond his depth and cannot swim. Then the mother gets beneath 

 it and it again gets on her back. Thus they go on, the mother frequently 

 giving an angry bellow, the young one constantly bleating and crying, 

 frequently falling ofi", spluttering and getting on again ; very often 

 getting a slap from the flipper of the mother, and sometimes she gives it a 

 very cruel bite. Thepoorlittleanimals areveryoftenseenwiththeir skins 

 pierced and lacerated in the most frightful manner. In this manner they 

 go on until they have made their passage to whatever place she wishes to 

 take her young one to." The males are described thus : — " One of a 

 medium size wUl measure about 6 feet»from nose to taU, and about 

 6 or 7 feet in circumference, and weigh about 5 hundredweight. They 

 by far exceed these dimensions." " The fur and skin are superior to 

 those of the female, being much thicker." On the neck and shoulders 

 he has a thicker, longer, and much coarser coat of fur, which may 

 almost be termed bristles ; it -is from 3 to 4 inches long, and can be 

 ruffled up and made to stand erect at will, which is always done when 

 they attack each other on shore or are surprised — sitting as a dog 

 would do, with their head erect and looking towards the object of their 

 surprise, and in this attitude they have all the appearance of a lion." 

 " They begin to come into the bays in the month of October, and 

 remain until the latter end of Pebruary, each one selecting and taking 

 up his own particular beat in a great measure ; but sometimes there 

 are several about the same place, in which case they fight most furi- 

 ously, never coming in contact with each other (either in or out of the 

 water) without engaging in the most desperate combat, tearing large 

 pieces of skin and flesh from each other ; their skins are always full of 

 wounds and scars, which however appear to heal very quickly." 

 " At this place we saw hundreds of seals ; both the shores and the 

 water were literally swarming with them, both the tiger and black 

 seal ; but in general the tiger seals keep one side of the harbour, and 

 the black seals, which are much the largest, the other side, but in 

 one instance we saw a black and a tiger seal fighting. They were at it 

 when we first saw them. "We watched them about half-an-hour, and 

 left them still hard at it ; they fight as ferociously as dogs, and do not 

 make the least noise, and with their large tusks they tear each other 

 almost to pieces." '' There is one seal which we all know particularly 

 well wherever we see him ; he appears to be the king of the mob which 

 belong to Figure of Eight Island. He is a very large dark-coloured 



