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Show 752 MR. J. W. CLARK ON THE EARED [Nov. 18, subsequently (p. 142) he identifies them with the Sea-lions, of which he gives a detailed account in an appendix. He apparently paid little or no attention to the " Black Seal," but beguiled the tedium of his miserable captivity by noting the habits of the other species, in which, as they were the chief article of food of himself and his companions, he took a grateful interest. He says, " W e eat the cow and the calf Tiger Seals: the Black Seal is not good ; and the bulls are all very rank" (p. 11). Again : " Not very long ago we thought it would be impossible to eat this kind of Seal (the Black Seal) : and indeed they are not by any means fit for food ; for the strong smell of the meat is enough not only to disgust, but to stifle a person" (p. 67. Compare also p. 6). In an appendix he gives " A n account of the Sea-lion and its habits" (p. 141 sq.), from which I extract the most important portions :- " The females are of a grey, golden buff, or beautiful silver colour, sometimes spotted like the Leopard, and are called Tiger Seals. Their fur is about an inch long, not very soft, but very thick, and particularly sleek and smooth On the upper lip, on each side, are thirty bristles (they seldom deviate from this number), of a hard horny nature, and resembling tortoise-shell in appearance, from 6 to 8 inches long, gradually decreasing as they approach the nose to 1 \ or 2 inches in length. " The males are uniformly of a blackish grey colour. The fur and skin are superior to those of the female, being much thicker, and the former finer from the shoulders backwards, though not so pretty. O n the neck and shoulders he has a thicker, longer, and much coarser coat of fur, which may almost be termed bristles. It is from 3 to 4 inches long, and can be ruffled up and made to stand erect at will." A male " of a medium size " will measure about 6 feet from nose to tail, and about 6 or 7 feet in circumference, and weigh about 5 cwt. The females are " proportionately smaller " than the bulls (p. 142 sq.). One of the most interesting details that he gives concerns their movements upon land. H e savs, " They go roaring about the woods like wild cattle" (p. 5). "They run very fast in the bush" (p. 10). " W e were in a thick bush, so that he (an old Tiger Seal) had a decided advantage" (p. 18). " W h e n they are on shore they can run surprisingly fast; on a hard, smooth beach they can run nearly as fast as a m a n ; and in the bush, or long grass, they can get along much faster. They can also climb up rocky cliffs and steep slippery banks that would be inaccessible to m a n " (p. 149). " The bulls are very bold, and will come out of the water and chase us. They are particularly fierce" (p. 78). On going up a mountain to the N.E. of the tent) " I found Seal-tracks," he says, " nearly to the top, which I reckon is about four miles from the water ; and about three miles up I saw a Seal" (p. 9). To this may be added the description of M r . Morris, for many years a sealer by profession, and now residing in Sydney:-"Adult male or wig uniformly blackish; pups born black ; after a few weeks |