310 
THE PEDRO SHOAL. 
cunistances, attendant on lactation. The occipital 
aperture, which remains for a long time unossified 
in this tribe of animals, being still open, though 
reduced to a very small orifice, — this Seal may be 
considered to have been only just full grown. The 
unworn sharpness of the teeth indicated the same 
fact. 
The measurements of this specimen were as 
follows : — 
ft. in. 
Total length, along the back, from snout to tip of tail - 4 2 
From snout to insertion of fore paw - - - 1 6 
From insertion of fore paw to hind paw - - 2 10 
Circumference of body near fore paws - - - 3 2 
Circumference at hind paws - - - - 1 6 
Breadth of back at fore paws - - - - 1 0 
From one fore paw to the other, extended - - 2 6 
Length of fore paw 10 in. Of hind paw 1 1 in. 
Breadth of head across ears, measured horizontally - 0 7 
Length of head 9 in. Breadth of nose 4^ in. 
Length of tall 3 in. 
The Kays frequented by these Seals are situated 
at about a degree south from this Island, and form 
portions of an extensive and dangerous line of rocks 
on a shoal about 100 miles long, the two extremities 
of soundings touching nearly the 77th and 79th 
meridians of W. longitude. These banks rise pre- 
cipitously from the deep ocean, with reefs formed, 
like the usual rocks in these seas, of coral, with 
an accumulation of shells and calcareous sand. The 
depth of water varies from 7 to 17 fathoms. A scan- 
ty vegetation covers the principal group of islands, 
which are what are properly called the Pedro Kays. 
