At one time a considerable trade was devoted to Walrus-hunting, but the diminishment of their numbers has practically reduced it to the lowest ebb. The tusks alone have now any commercial significance, but formerly Walrus hides were used for various purposes, such as machine-bands, carriage-springs, rigging of ships, and the like. CHAPTER II. II.--THE SEA LION FAMILY (OTARIIDÆ). Various Names--Peculiarities of Distribution--Characteristics of the Family--Dentition--Skull--Fossil Remains--Distinction between Fur and Hair Seals--Preparation of the Seal-skin--THE NORTHERN FUR SEAL--History--The Pribyloff Islands--Male, Female, Young--“Hauling-grounds”--Wintering--Males at the Islands in Spring--Desperate Battles for Seaward Positions--Approach of the Females--Struggles for Wives--The Young--Abstinence from Food, Water, and Sleep for more than Two Months--Neutral Ground in the “Rookeries”--Habits of the Young--Food--Annual Slaughter--Estimated Numbers--Mode of Killing--STELLER’S SEA LION--GILLIESPIE’S HAIR SEAL--HOOKER’S SEA BEAR--The Wreck of the _Grafton_--Musgrave’s Narrative--Sufferings of the Castaways--Their Experiences among the Sea Bears--THE WHITE-NECKED OTARY--Distribution--Description--“Counsellor Seal”--THE PATAGONIAN SEA LION--Historical Associations--Impetus to the Study of the Family--François Lecomte--Its Docility and Intelligence--Its various Performances--Voracity--Lecomte’s Observations--Habits--THE FALKLAND ISLAND FUR SEAL--Habitat--The Hunters’ Boats--Driven from their Haunts--Captain Weddell’s Observations--Great Wariness and Speed--Size--Habits--THE SOUTH AFRICAN, OR CAPE FUR SEAL--THE NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL--THE ASH-COLOURED OTARY--Peron’s Services to Science. The old voyagers have termed, and the present race of sealers know, members of the Otary family by such names as Sea Lion, Sea Leopard, Sea Bear, Sea Wolf, Sea Dog, &c., and these terms have even passed from seamen to science. The Otariidæ, like the Common Seals, are found both in the northern and southern hemispheres, but it is a remarkable fact that the species (some would even say genera) inhabiting the northern and southern regions are perfectly distinct the one from the other. Nay more, the one seems representative of the other. For example, there are a certain number of Fur-bearing Seals, and a certain number of Hair Seals, distributed over a wide area of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, which, in either case, are spread hither and thither into more temperate latitudes. Indeed, the most recent observations tend to show that these animals are migratory in habit, and frequent certain given localities at regular intervals. [Illustration: SEA LION. (_From the Living Specimen in the Zoological Gardens, London._)]