ABSTRACT
Jan. ye 1st Q Having dropt our Anchor, Boats were hoisted out & we went ashore. It rained several Squalls. We found on the Rocks, all along the Shore of the Island, vast Numbers of a kind of Seal, which deserves to be called the Sea-Lion with far greater Justice, than that observed by Lord Anson1 in his Voyage ztjuan Fernandez, for the Males of this our Seal have all a shaggy long kind of Hair, from the head down to the Shoulder & fore-Fins; the Configuration of the head in the Females is somewhat related to that of a Lionness, & the tawny somewhat yellowish colour of their Hair all contribute to bring a Relation about this Seal & the Lion. The largest Males we saw were from 12 to 15 Feet long. The Lionnesses from 6 to 8. One of the middling Males after the Skin, Entrails & Blubber were taken away weighed ssolb weight; so that the largest of them certainly must have weighed 1000 or 1200 Ib. They snort & roar, are polygamous, have one or two Cubs at a time; the Females bleat like Calves, & the Cubs like Lambs. They lie in Families together, with the young Cubs & such young ones as are not fit for propagation. The old Males lie separate, are very torpid & indolent but fierce, peevish Sc cruel. None of the others must approach their Resting-place, or else they must fight. I saw some with many gashes on their back; & when they fight they seize one another on the back & Sides with a rage & fury hardly to be described. The Females coax & fondle the Males with their Snouts about theirs, & when the old surly Bashaw groals & grumbles, or snaps at her, she prostrates herself at his Feet & endeavours to assuage his tempestuous temper. In their Amours I observed one couple, where the Female, after many blandishments, at last swam in the Cove of the beach they lay on, together with the Male; & having both frisked for many Minutes in the Sea, they both hasted on Shore, she laid herself close to the Waters-Edge on her back down & the Male immediately covered her, having everywhere many Bystanders of every Sex round them. The Copulation lasted about 8 to 10 minutes. Some Females that we killed had perfect Cubs in their Wombs, & one it is said, miscarried the Moment she was struck with a Club. We saw several Mothers carry their Cubs in their Mouths into the Water. Others were so frightened, that they ran off & left their young
1 See p. 705, n. 4 below.
