16 



By Mr. Forster, the companion of the celebrated Captain Cook, we 

 are told, that at Staten's Land, where these animals existed in thousands, 

 " as soon as I was near enough I shot the surly creature dead, and at 

 that instant the whole herd hurried to the sea, and many of them 

 hobbled along with such precipitation as to leap down between forty 

 and fifty perpendicular feet upon the pointed rocks on shore without 

 receiving any hurt, which may be attributed to their fat easily gi^dng 

 way, and their hide being remarkably thick." " The young cubs barked 

 at us, and ran at our heels when we passed, trying to bite our legs." 



Mr. "Weddell informs us " When these Shetland Seals were first 

 visited, they had no apprehension of danger from meeting men ; in fact 

 they would lie still while their neighbours were killed and skinned, but 

 latterly they had acquired habits for counteracting danger by placing 

 themselves on rocks from which they could in a moment precipitate 

 themselves into the water." "Their sense of smell and hearing is acute, 

 and in instinct they are little inferior to the dog." "These," the females, 

 " in the early part of December begin to land, and they are no sooner 

 out of the water than they are taken possession of by the males, who 

 have many serious battles with each other in procuring their respective 

 seraglios, and by a peculiar instinct they carefully protect the females 

 under their charge during the whole period of their gestation. By the 

 end of December all the females have accomplished the purpose of their 

 landing." " By the middle of February the young are able to take the 

 water, and after being taught to swim by the mother, they are abandoned 

 on the shore, where they remain till their coats of fur and hair are 

 completed." (Prom Jardine's "Nat. Libr.") 



A detailed account of the habits of the Fur-Seal of the Auckland 

 Isles has recently been given by Mr. Musgrave,^ which he acquired 

 during a compulsory residence in their midst of nearly twenty 

 months. Of the females, he relates that " Their nose resembles 

 that of a dog, but is somewhat broader ; their scent appears 

 to be very acute. The eyes are large, of a green colour, watery 

 and lustreless ; when on shore they appear to be constantly weeping." 

 " In the latter part of December, and during the whole of January, 

 they are on shore a great deal, and go wandering separately through 

 the bush, and into the long grass on the sides of the mountains 

 above the bush, constantly bellowing out in the most dismal manner. 

 They are undoubtedly looking out for a place, suitable for calving in. 

 I have known them to go to a distance of more than a mile from the 

 water for this purpose." " Females begin to breed when two years old, 

 and carry their calves eleven months, and suckle them for about three 

 months." "Before they have their calves, the cows lie sometimes in 

 small mobs (from twelve to twenty) , as well as while giving suck, and 

 there is generally one or two bulls in each mob. The cows are evidently 

 byfarthemostnumerous." Of the habitsof the veryyoung, he says : "It 

 might be supposed that these animals, even when young, would readily 



^ Narrative of the wreck of the " Grafton." Melbourne, 1865. 



