IN THE SHETLANDS 305 
That is enough for the sportsman. Such individuals 
are sentinels, and his skill, consequently, in outwitting 
them, something extraordinary. But let him bring 
some evidence of this—I mean of the first proposi- 
tion ; as for the other—the corollary—we will take it 
for granted, sentinels or not. No doubt of the man’s 
capabilities. He can set his wit to a goose’s, and 
shame, or cry quits, with it—but was the goose really 
so extremely clever? Was it anything more than a 
wary, vigilant bird, that a man of parts might be 
expected, sometimes, to get the better of ? I doubt it 
extremely—at any rate, I doubt the sentry-go. When 
one comes to think of it, the systematic tailing off of 
one, or some, particular members of a band of animals, 
to warn the others in the event of danger, is a very 
high act of collective intelligence ; and nothing short 
of this amounts to anything. That the first animal 
who takes alarm should utter a cry, and thus warn the 
rest, is a very different matter. These seals did not 
even do this, though the ones who saw me, and took 
to the water, must have associated my presence with 
danger. Of this I have now had another example, 
for in ascending the cliff, one out of two seals lying 
close together on a small rock saw me and went off. 
The other had not seen me, but evidently felt uneasy, 
owing to the haste and abrupt motions of his com- 
panion. Nevertheless, he took some time to make up 
his mind, and was on the rock, I should say, about 
two minutes after the other had left: whereas, had this 
latter communicated his alarm to him by any recog- 
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