164 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



True Seals of one sort or another are found in most seas, though chiefly in the 

 North and South ; there are none in Indian or South African seas, and the West 

 Indian Seal {Monachus tropicalis) is all but extinct. The whole group, though 

 differing much in detail, present a great resemblance, if not so alike as the Eared 

 Seals, and here there is only space to mention two more species, each very 

 remarkable in its way. 



THE BLADDERNOSE 



(Cystophora cristatd) 



Remarkable for the inflatable skin on the nose of the male, the " Hood," as this 

 Seal is often called, is the most noteworthy of the Arctic Seals. Its colour is a 

 marbling of light and dark grey, and it grows larger than the Common Seal. The 

 male is a very brave animal ; he not only fights savagely with his rivals in spring, 

 like other Seals, but will turn on man when attacked, and even drag the corpses 

 of his family into the water when they have been killed on the ice, so that, unlike 

 most Seals, he was considered a dangerous animal by sealers until rifles were 

 brought into use against him. Hood-Seals occasionally visit our coasts, but are 

 very rare, and Usually come as young specimens, while adults of the others arrive. 



THE SEA-ELEPHANT 



(Macrorhinus leoninus) 



The Sea-Elephant is not only the largest of all true Seals, but exceeds all other 

 carnivora, land or water, for it is considerably bigger than the Walrus — a male 

 measuring fifteen feet, and being almost as much in girth ; females do not exceed 

 ten feet. The teeth of this huge brute are very small for its size, and it has no 

 nails on the hind flippers ; the male is likewise distinguished by a short proboscis, 

 which varies in form, being either limp or dilated; it is about as long pro- 

 portionately as a Tapir's. The colour of the coat is dark brown in adults, black 

 in the young. 



This great Seal used to have a wide range on the coasts and islands of the 

 Southern Ocean, while a Northern race (M. angustirostris) inhabited the Cali- 

 fornian coasts. The last of the latter, however, seem to have been destroyed at 

 the time of writing, and the typical Southern Sea-Elephants have been so thinned 

 by relentless persecution, for their oil and skins, that they have been exterminated 

 in many of their old haunts, notably the Falkland Islands. This animal, then, is 

 evidently doomed to disappear unless protected in time; and this is the more 

 unfortunate, as it is of high utility, and has never been seen in captivity in Europe. 

 In the Zoological Gardens of Buenos Ayres, however, specimens have been kept. 



