P II OCA. 
merits of fix front ones, in the upper jaw, were difcernible; 
in the lower there was room for four only, and they, 
were not through the gums : two canine in each jaw. 
Upper jaw, three grinders produced through the gums ; 
lower feven. No external ears; orifice two inches back 
from the eyes. The flefh was very black. The heart 
was eaten, and found fweet as that of a bullock, except 
the fat, which was rancid as train-oil. About fixteen 
gallons of oil were extra&ed from the fat on it. 
“ On the 27th, we obtained a young one of the fame 
fpecies alive. He manifefted very evident figns of faga- 
city, confidering his age. He had been but a few hours 
on-board, when he found out the only holes in the flip’s 
bulwark through which he could get overboard. Thefe 
were two fquare holes, one on each fide, cut for the pur- 
pofe of palling through the end of the trough by which 
the water that was pumped was difcharged into the fea. 
After thefe holes had been filled up with mats, he made 
feveral attempts to open them by means of his fore flippers. 
He does not take any food unlefs forced upon him. 
Since he was caught, he has been fed with flour and 
water, made into the confidence of thick gruel j but this 
appears to be very inadequate to his fupport, as he pines 
away daily. He is perhaps one of the mod inofi'enfive 
animals ever met with, allowing bimfelf to be handled 
like the tamed dog. Occafionally, when diflurbed, he 
makes a mournful noife, fomewhat fimilar to that of the 
crying of a young child. From having been fo long in 
confinement, it being nearly three weeks fince he w'as 
caught, he appears to have become quite helplefs, even 
in his own watery element; for, on being let overboard 
yederday, without having a line fadened to him, he 
merely Iwam and dived for a fhort time, and then came 
along-fide the boat that followed him, with a view', as was 
fuppofed, of being taken on-board. In diving, he appears 
to make little if any ufe of his fore flippers; and, when 
rifing in the water, the hind ones feem to be equally inac¬ 
tive ; but in fwimming both are ufed. In moving about 
on deck, he does not make any ufe of his hind flippers, 
his motion being a kind of hop or bounce, fince, by 
bending his back, he drags up the hinder part of the 
bod}', and then throws himfelf forward by the means of 
his fore flippers. In this manner he contrives to move 
along for a fhort fpace with about the fame fpeed as that 
of a perfon who walks at an ordinary pace. I fufpebl 
that his food, before he was caught, mud have been 
chiefly the milk of his dam; for, whenever any one of the 
feamen approaches him, he begins to fuck his trovvfers. 
He pa lies the greater part of his time in a date of fomno- 
lency, fometitnes lying on his back, but generally on his 
fide. His extreme length, from the fnout to the tip of 
the hind flippers, three feet two inches, fpread of the hind 
flippers ten inches, and of the- fore flippers five inches. 
The ears, or rather the foramina which lead to the organ 
of hearing, for he had not any external ears, were fituated 
about an inch behind the eyes, and of a fize capable of 
admitting a large goofe-quill. Nodrils fituated like thole 
of a dog. Strong bridles on the upper lip. When lying 
dill, his heart pulfated at the rate of ninety drokes per 
minute. He weighed only thirty pounds. Fie had 6 cut¬ 
ting teeth in the upper jaw, and 4 in the lower ; a canine 
teeth, and 10 grinders in each jaw. 
“ Before I conclude my remarks on feals, it may not be 
improper to obferve, that, within thefe few days pad, 
feveral attempts have been made to get at thofe which 
have been feen now' and then balking on the ice. From 
their having been obferved at a great didance from the 
water, and having been frequently feen on the middle of 
floes feven miles in circumference, we at firfl made our- 
felves certain of killing them before they could reach the 
edge of the ice. We foon learned, however, from expe¬ 
rience, that their place of retreat was nearer to them than 
we were led to fuppofe ; for we invariably found that they 
lay on the edge of a circular hole which went through 
the ice, fo that, when we fucceeded in getting within 
1 
279 
rnufket (hot of them, they made but one hop or bounce, 
and difappeared.” Journal of (Capt. Rofs’s) Voyage to 
the Arctic Regions, 1818. Suppofed to be by Mr. Fiflter, 
furgeon of Lieut, (now Capt.) Parry’s fltip. 
n. Phoca pufilla, the little feal : body brown ; head 
fmooth, with the rudiments of ears. In this fpecies the 
hair is faid to be foft, fmooth, and longer than in the 
common feal : the colour on the head and back dulky: 
beneath brownilh: the length two feet four inches: the 
four middle cutting-teeth of the upper jaw are bifurcated : 
the two middle of the lower, flightly trifurcated: the 
the ears very fmall: the webs of the feet extend very far 
beyond the toes and nails. This animal is figured in 
Buffon’s Natural Hiftory, and the fpecimen is faid to 
have been brought from India; but Mr. Pennant ima¬ 
gines this to be an erroneous idea, arifing from fome mif- 
information, fince, from the authority of Dampier, as well 
as of modern voyagers to the Ealt Indies, it (hould feem 
that no feals are obferved in that ocean. 
n. Phoca Chilenfis, the porcine feal : fnout hog-like, 
feet five-toed; ears. In its general form this fpecies re- 
fembles the uriine feal; but the nofe is longer, and formed 
like that of a hog; the ears alfo are larger; and it has 
five diftindt toes covered with a common membrane. It 
inhabits the coaft of Chili; but is a rare fpecies. 
13. Phoca flavefcens, the yellow or eared feal: body 
yellowifli; ears pointed. The eared feal appears to be a 
rare fpecies, and is fmaller than mod: of the genus, not 
much exceeding the length of two feet from the nofe to 
the tail; and from the fame place to the extremity of the 
hind feet, about two feet and a half. Its colour is an 
uniform pale yellow, or deep cream-colour, without any 
variegation. The head is rather fmall, and the nofe fome¬ 
what pointed: the ears are about an inch long, and are 
very narrow and pointed ; and are fomewhat leaf-fhaped : 
the whifkers long and whitifh : the teeth are rather blunt 
than fltarp, and the two middle incifores or front teeth of 
the lower jaw are flightly emarginated. The fore feet are 
pinniform, and without any appearance of toes or claws, 
and in fhape fomewhat refemble the fore fins of a turtle: 
the hind feet are ftrongly webbed, and have long and 
very diftindt claws, of which the three intermediate are 
much larger than the exterior ones: the tail is about an 
inch in length. This feal is a native of the Magellanic 
Straits. It has been figuredin the plate of the Magel¬ 
lanic vulture, in the firfl: number of the Mufeum Leve- 
rianum ; but the figure there reprefented, being merely in¬ 
tended as an accompaniment to the fcenery of the plate, 
is, of courfe, only calculated to convey a general refem- 
blance of the animal. 
14. Phoca mutica, the long-necked feal: no claws on 
the fore feet. This is a fmall fpecies, with a fender body 
Angularly proportioned; for the length from the nofe to 
the fore legs is as great as from the legs to the tail; there 
are no claws on the fore feet, which refemble fins. A 
good fpecimen of this was preferved in the Mufeum of 
the Royal Society. Dr. Parlous has given a-figure of it 
in the 47th vol. of Phil. Tranf. tab. iii. which, on ac¬ 
count of the Angular conformation, we have copied at fig. 
4. but we are left uninformed as to the country it inha¬ 
bits. 
15. Phoca Auftralis, the Falkland-ifland feal: ears 
fhort, pointed ; no claws to the fore feet. This fpecies 
is in length about four feet. Hair fhort, cinereous tipped 
with dirty white; nofe fhort, befet with ftrong black brif- 
tles. The upper cutting teeth fulcated tranfverfely ; the 
lower in an oppofite direction ; on each fide of the canine 
teeth, a fmaller or fecondary one ; the grinders are conoid, 
with a fmall procefs on one fide near the bafe. It has no 
claws on the fore feet, but beneath the flcin are evident 
marks of the bones of five toes; the fkin extends far be¬ 
yond their ends. On the toes of the hind legs are four 
long and ftraight claws; but the fkin ftretches far be¬ 
yond, which gives them a very pinniform look. This 
fpecies probably inhabits the feas about Juan Fernandez, 
