During the first day sixty to seventy were killed, and similar results often followed. To shoot more at one time was inadvisable. An average of forty per day was considered good, and this allowed time to ship and "speck," i.e. take the blubber from the skin.
The finest herd we visited just before leaving the island. In all there were twenty-four magnificent animals, roughly averaging 19 ft. in length. For the first time, in 904 Seals, I saw the rugged nose of "Anson's plate," figured in Moseley's 'Challenger Notes' (p. 201). The plate of Leseur, reproduced on p. 202 of the same work, does not quite agree with the animals noticed by us in respect to the eyebrow bristles. The "Elephants" here have no conspicuous eyebrow, but rather have the cheek-hairs more developed than this plate exhibits. Before introducing ourselves I noticed one great "Elephant" take a short cut over another, and a quarrel arose. Both growled and stood partly supported by their shoulder flippers. Another disagreement arose elsewhere, but it seems to me there is more bark than bite, as animosity is quickly lost in sleep. One unfortunate animal had a badly torn nose, in all probability a dental evidence
