214 THE EASTERN SLEDGE JOURNEY 



grown seal, however, they could do nothing; its body 

 offered no particularly vulnerable spots, and the thick, 

 tight-fitting skin was too much even for dogs' teeth. 

 The utmost the rascals could accomplish w^as to annoy 

 and torment the object of their attack. It was quite 

 another matter when the young ones began to arrive. 

 Among this small game the enterprising hunters could 

 easily satisfy their inborn craving for murder, for the 

 scoundrels only killed for the sake of killing ; they were 

 not at all hungry, as they had as much food as they 

 liked. Of course, we did all we could to put a stop 

 to this state of things, and so long as there were several 

 of us at the hut, we saw that the whole pack was tied 

 up; but when Lindstrom was left by himself, he could 

 not manage to hold them fast. His tents were alto- 

 gether snowed under in the weather that prevailed on 

 the seaboard in December. There were not many dogs 

 left in his charge, but I am afraid those few wrought 

 great havoc among the young seals out on the ice of 

 the bay. The poor mothers could hardly have done 

 anything against a lot of dogs, even if they had been 

 more courageous. Their enemies were too active. For 

 them it was the work of a moment to snatch the young 

 one from the side of its mother, and then they were able 

 to take the poor thing's life undisturbed. 



Unfortunately, there were no sea - leopards in the 

 neighbourhood of Framheim. These, which are far 

 quicker in their movements than the Weddell seal, 



