324 THE BIRD WATCHER 
The great seal igggain asleep upon his rock (it 
seems to belong to him and the common one in 
turn), and looking down upon him, now, from the 
tops of the cliffs, through the glasses, there does 
not appear to be any admixture of brown what- 
ever in the shade of his fur. Wherever the light 
falls upon it, it is an absolute silver, and, where in 
shadow, tends to shade a little into the colouring of 
a very light-skinned mole. But this last is merely 
an effect: the real colouring is, I believe, a uniform 
silver—very pretty indeed, where the light catches it. 
The fur seems close and thick—very mole-like in tex- 
ture—the general appearance, indeed, is very much 
that of a gigantic mole, if only the head, the character 
of which is different, be not well seen. In the water, 
however, when more or less immersed, even the head 
partakes of this resemblance, or lends itself to it, and 
the whole animal becomes “ perfect mo/e” (“ mine eye 
hath well examined his parts, and finds him perfect 
Richard”’). In itself, however, the head is not mole- 
like—-as may well be believed—but, when held in some 
positions, looks remarkably like that of a polar-bear— 
a resemblance much more ¢ /a Richard. He seems 
extremely fat—Falstaff’s ‘“‘ three fingers on the ribs,” 
I should say, at the very least. 
A common seal has now, once or twice, swum close 
round him, and looks a mere pigmy by comparison. 
This latter may not be a large seal—I do not think he 
is—still, the juxtaposition of the two gives me a better 
idea of Falstaff’s proportions than I had before. He 
