m 



thôse of thé seal. The existence of this animal is 

 universally credited throughout the country, and 

 there are some persons who pretend to have seen 

 the skin, which, they say, is covered with a very soft 

 and sleek hair, resembling in colour that of the sea- 

 Wolf. " 



But leaving the examination of these animals to 

 those who have an opportunity of making farther 

 discoveries respecting them, I shall proceed to treat 

 of those that are known, which I shall divide into 

 those that have toes, or are digitated, and those 

 that are hoofed. This division, although imper- 

 fect, appears to me to be better adapted than a 

 more technical one, for the arrangement of so small 

 a number of species* Those which have toes are 

 either web footed or cloven footed. The former 

 live in the water, and feed upon fish. Those who in- 

 habit the sea are the following : 



The urigne (phoca lupina). This Species of phoc-a, 

 which the French and Spaniards call the se a- wolf, 

 differs but little from the common seal ; this differ* 

 ence principally consists in its size and colour. It 

 is from three to six and even eight feet in length ; 

 and its colour is brown, grey, and sometimes whitish, 

 but all of these are merely varieties of the samé 

 species. This animal is large forward, but gradually 

 diminishes, like a fish, towards the hinder feet, which 

 are united within the same skin, and form the ex- 

 tremity of its body. It is covered with two kinds of 

 hair, one stiff, and the other soft like that of an ox. 

 The head is large and round, and resembles that of 



a dog with the ears cut off, and instead of the latter 

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