MAMMALS. 59 



Some of the Eskimo hunters belonging to the Florence brought as 

 many as seventy at one load. They were kept frozen, and we almost 

 lived on the meat during the season, and learned to like it very much. 



Some of the hispid seals pup on the ice without any covering what- 

 ever. Six instances of this nature came under my observation, and they 

 were all young animals. The young exposed in this manner almost 

 always fall a prey to foxes and ravens before they are old enough to 

 take care of themselves. 



As the season advances and the young begin to shed their coats, the 

 roof of their igloo is often, or perhaps always, broken down, and the 

 mother and young can be seen on sunny days basking in the warm sun- 

 shine beside their atluk. The mother will take to the water when the 

 hunter has approached within gunshot, and leave the young one to shift 

 for itself, which generally ends in its staring leisurely at the hunter till 

 suddenl}^ it finds a hook in its side ; a stout sealskin line is then made 

 fast to its hind flippers, and it is let into the atluk ; it, of course, makes 

 desperate efforts to free itself, and is very apt to attract the attention of 

 the mother if she is anywhere in the vicinity. The Eskimo carefully 

 watches the movements of the young one, and, as soon as the mother is 

 observed, begins to haul in on the line. The old one follows nearer and 

 nearer to the surface, till at last she crosses the hole at the proper depth, 

 and the deadly harpoon is planted in her bodj', and she is quickly drawn 

 out. If the mother has seen the hunter approaching the atluk, however, 

 she will not even show herself. I haA^e never known of an instance 

 where they have attempted to defend their offspring from man. I once 

 saw a raven trying to kill a young seal while the mother was making 

 frantic but very awkward attemi^ts to catch the bird in her mouth. 

 When the j'oung first assume the coat of the adults (about the time the 

 ice begins to loosen), they seem i)ossessed of a A^ast amount of Curiosity, 

 and while swimming near the land, as they almost always do, can be 

 lured within gunshot by whistling or singing. They would often play 

 about the schooner, diving underneath and coming up on the opposite 

 side, apparently enjoying it hugely. They delight to swim among the 

 pieces of floating ice in the quiet bays. The young and yearlings of this 

 species are often found together in small bands. The adult females will 

 average four feet and a half to the end of the flippers. Such specimens 

 are x)robably from four to seven years old ; the males are a little larger. 

 There is great variation in the skulls, but the sexes can readilj^ be dis- 

 tinguished by the skull alone, the males having a longer and narrower 

 head, with the ridges more prominent. 



