s e A l; 
they receive are very deep, and referable the cuts 
of a fabre, At the end of a fight they fling them- 
felves into the fea, to wafh away the blood. 
The males are very fond of their young but 
very tyrannical towards the females: if any body 
attempts to take their cub, the male Hands on the 
defenfive, while the female makes off with the young 
in her mouth j fhould fhe drop it, the former in- 
fiantly quits his enemy, falls on her, and beats her 
againH the Hones, till he leaves her for dead. As 
jfoon as Hie recovers, fhe comes in the moH fuppliant 
manner to the male, crawls to his feet, and wafhes 
them with her tears : he, in the mean time, Halks 
about in the moH infulting manner; but in cafe the 
young one is carried off, he melts into the deepen 
affli&ion, and fliews all figns of deep concern. It is 
probable that he feels his misfortune the more fenfi- _ 
fibly, as the female generally brings but one at a 
time *, never more than two. 
They fwim very fwiftly, at the rate of feven miles 
an hour. If wounded, will feize on the boat, and 
carry it along with vaH impetuofity, and oftentimes 
fink it. They can continue a long time under wa¬ 
ter. When they want to climb the rocks they faHen 
with the fore paws, and fo draw themfelves up. 
They are very tenacious of life, and will live for a 
fortnight after receiving fuch wounds as would im¬ 
mediately deftroy any other animal. 
The male of this fpecies is vaHly fuperior in fize 
to the female. The bodies of each are' of a conic 
form, very thick before, and taper to the tail. The 
length of a large one is eight teet \ the greateH cir¬ 
cumference 
