Seals I found to be very numerous in Colymbia, and there are several different sorts, indigenous and imported.
The indigenous seal is a very intelligent and easily-domesticated animal, varying from four to six feet in length and with much longer flippers than those inhabiting our coasts; in fact, they are so long that the animal can walk on shore without its body being in contact with the ground. These seals, being so tame and sensible, are much used for hunting purposes, chiefly for hunting the turtle whose flesh forms a staple article of the food of the country. A small variety of it is kept as a domestic pet, like this one of Miss Lily's. Their intelligence and attachment to human beings are marvellous. They will attack and destroy any cuttles, crabs, or other sea vermin that might invade the house, and will give warning of the intrusion of a stranger. For these good qualities they are in great request in the houses of the better class of people. Great pains are bestowed by the Colymbians on the breeding of them, and by dint of careful selection of stock, numerous useful and beautiful varieties have been produced from the indigenous seal that differ as much from the typical original as our varieties of dogs differ from their wild progenitor.
A large and ferocious kind, with a head like a leopard's, and a formidable array of teeth, are used as watch-dogs along the reef to give notice of the approach of ships and shipwrecked persons. They are chained up in order to keep them at their post on the reef, and by their loud barking noise, which I had heard when I first approached the barrier, they warn the police of the approach of anything strange. I remembered having seen in England a large barking
