IN THE SHETLANDS 217 
most funny manner—a sort of serio-comic remon- 
strance, shown in action and expression. ‘‘ Now do 
leave off, really. Come now, do leave me alone ”— 
and when this had reached a climax the funny fellow 
left off and lay still again; but as soon as all was 
quiet, he heaved up and began to scratch her again. 
This he did—and she did the other—three times, at 
the least, and if not to have a little fun with her I can 
hardly see why. 
On my last return from the guillemots, the tide 
was rising, and most of the rocks where the seals 
had been lying were covered. I was in time, how- 
ever, to see one—an immense parti-coloured seal-— 
gradually floated off. He lay upon a great mass of 
seaweed, and as long as he could stay there, he did ; 
but little by little, as the waves came in, he rose un- 
willingly, seeming to cling to it to the last. Whether 
he really did grasp the seaweed with his hind feet, 
and stay, thus anchored, as long as he possibly could, 
I cannot say; but certainly, for a good many minutes, 
and keeping in much the same place, he stood, or 
rather floated, perpendicularly in the water, even in- 
cluding his head, so that his nose, which projected 
just a little above the surface, pointed straight up into 
the air. This was, at once, seen to be the case when 
he brought it down and stood with head in the usual 
position, as he did at intervals. Finally, he rolled 
slowly over and sought the depths in a vanishing 
blue streak. Another seal clung, in like manner, to 
the smooth rock he was on, letting the rising waves 
wash him about till at last he swam off. 
