Marine Carnivora 139 



have been greatly redueed by whalei's in scarcli of skiii^ and oil. Tlio fir.-t soa-linn e\pr 

 bi'ouglit to England was one of these. I'he Zoological Hoeiety did not import it ; tliey found 

 it in the possession of a Freneliman called Leconite, who had taken it on the Patagonian 

 coast, trained it, and bronglit it home, where he showed it in a caravan. Its training was 

 long and ditficult ; it l)it like a bull-dog, and Lecomte's limbs were scarred all over with its 

 bites. In spite of this it was the cleverest i)erforraing animal ever seen up to that time 

 in England. This sea-lion died from swallowing a fish-hook concealed in some fish with which 

 it was fed. Lecomte was then sent out by the Zoological Society to obtain some more. With 

 the greatest difficulty several were secured, but all died on the voyage to New York. Eeconite 

 returned and obtained others, one of which he succeeded in bringing to England. The 

 cleverness of these animals — or rather their power of understanding wliat they are required to 

 do, and their willingness to do it — probably exceeds that of any other animal, except the 

 elephant and the dog. Why this is so is not easy to conjecture, except that the brain is 

 more developed. They have been taught to fetcli and carry on dry land like a retriever, in 

 addition to the well-known tricks exhibited liv those at the Zoo. One belonging to Barnum's 

 Show caught stra-wberry-punnets on its nose when tliey were thrown t(; it, and waved a torch, 

 which it held in its teeth and caught after tossing it into the air. 



The sea-lions are much more powerful animals than the fur-seals. Tiie male of Steller's 

 sea-lion attains a length of 10 feet and a weiglit of 1,000 ll)s. The Australian Sea-lio\ is 

 even larger than that of the North Pacific. Some specimens are said to attain 12 feet in 

 length. Captain Cook mentions seeing male Patagonian sea-lions 14 feet long and from 8 to 

 10 feet in circumference. Though none are now seen of such dimensions, skulls found on the 

 beach show that anciently some of the sea-lions were larger than any now known. 



It should be noted that all these creatures are carnivorous, yet the supply of food for them 

 ne\'er seems to fail, as undoubtedly it would were the animals dependent for their food on land. 



JJi/ 2}eiTtussio)i. of IRn- Cad JI'i'i' nlj'.ck-] ^Ihunhi'-i-'j. 



FEMALE WALRUS. 



This is a photograph of the only walrus which has ever been tamed and fciughl to perform tricks. It was taken when she was two .years olil 

 and weighed 380 lbs. At tliat time she consumed 70 lbs. of boneless fish a day ; a year later not less than 100 lbs. satisfied lier. She is now an 

 inmate of the Roumanian Zoological Gardens. 



