502 FAMILY PHOCID^S. 



Greenland sea, when they get among them, will average up- 

 wards of 200,000, the great bulk of which are young ' Saddle- 

 backs ', or, in the language of the sealer, 'white-coats'".* 



According to Lindeman (1. c., p. 81) the seal-hunters leave 

 the ports of the Weser and the Elbe about the end of February, 

 or, at latest, by the beginning of March, and reach the hunting- 

 grounds about the third week of March, sailing to the north- 

 westward between the Shetland Islands and Norway, and 

 thence through the "funnel" ("Trechter") of the "Spanish Sea", 

 and eastward to Jan May en, varying their course according to 

 the winds and the ice, reaching this rocky island in from eight 

 days to four weeks, according to the favorableness of the sea- 

 son. The steamships delay their voyages so as to reach the seal- 

 ing-grounds at the same time as the sailing- vessels. 



About the 18th of March, as a rule, the "bay ice" ("pan-ice" 

 of the English) begins to form, at about which time the ships 

 reach this latitude. The bay-ice first takes the form of small 

 round flakes, of the size of a tea-plate, varying in thickness 

 from an inch to a foot. In it the ships find protection from 

 storms, it considerably lessening the force of the sea, and serv- 

 ing to keep down the waves. Where the bay-ice has formed the 

 surface of the sea looks as if oil had been poured over it. The 

 flakes increase in size, and if sharp cold ensues they become 

 united the following day into masses six feet broad. The next 

 two or three weeks are devoted to seal-hunting and seal-killing. 

 This is the time when the males and females are seeking their 

 food of small fishes, mollusks, and crustaceans. Frequently no 

 bay -ice forms, and then the Seals must be sought on the hard 

 polar-ice. About the 22d to the 24th of March, the Seals resort 

 to the ice and the females bring forth their young. Later they 

 seek by preference for this purpose the somewhat firmer bay-ice. 

 At the time of the birth of the young the males are found with 

 the females, and sometimes two males to one female. As a rule 

 the female has but one young, which, if she be not disturbed, 

 she suckles for about seventeen to eighteen days. The young 

 develop with extraordinary rapidity, and after three to four 

 weeks are fat enough to yield a good booty. The whelping 

 time continues till about the 5th of April ; four to five days 

 later the males leave the "school" ("Stapel") or "shoal," and 

 depart in a northeasterly direction. The females still remain 



* Proc. Zool. Soc. Loncl. 1868, pp. 438, 439; Mail. Nat. Hist., etc., Green- 

 land, Main., p. 67. 



