218 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



old one takes the ice, even supposing there may be eight or ten 

 young ones besides her own upon the same piece, she never takes 

 her nose from the ice, but runs along until she catches the scent of 

 her own. When she comes to it, there is a great display of kissing 

 and other demonstrations of affection. It usually occurs, when 

 there are a number of young ones lying together, that some of them 

 will draw in about, to see if they can get a share of this attention. 

 The old one immediately throws up her head and scolds very 

 significantly, and if this has not the effect of driving them off, she 

 will use her teeth and claws very freely until she gets quietness. 

 The young one will now poke its mother on the side with its nose 

 until she turns over to it, when it immediately fixes on the teat; 

 but if it has any difficulty in finding the place, the mother will 

 direct it by scratching it back with her fin, or hitching herself 

 forward, and there the cub will remain for half an hour, the very 

 picture of enjoyment. The supply seems to be so abundant that 

 the milk can be seen flowing past the mouth of the young one. 

 After it is satisfied it will roll about on its back, walloping its fins, 

 or crawl away under the lee of its hummock to have a sleep. It 

 occasionally happens that an old one loses its young for a short 

 time, and her state of distress is very apparent; running over all the 

 pieces round about, screaming until she finds it. I have often 

 watched the mother enticing her pup away from the neighbourhood 

 of a ship. What patience she displays before she can get her 

 young one to take the water, and then coaxed away little by little 

 to what she considers a safe distance." Later in the season, the 

 Greenland ice is invaded by large numbers of Seals from the 

 Labrador ice, on the breaking up of which they travel northward, 

 still along the margin of the ice, resting as they go, till they reach 

 latitude 76°; they then make for the south end of Spitzbergen, 

 and even pass on to the shores of Novaya Zemlya. 



Between Iceland and Greenland the Hooded Seal (Cystophora 

 cristata, Erxleben) is met with in considerable numbers in the 

 month of June after the Labrador ice has disappeared, and since 

 1877 they have been hunted with considerable success. These 

 chiefly fall to the Norwegians, though some of our ships also take 

 a part in the pursuit, but this locality has of late years offered 

 another inducement to the whalers which I shall mention shortly. 

 The sealing voyage over, most of the vessels return to port and 

 refit for the whaling voyage, to either the Greenland seas, lying 



