IN THE SHETLANDS 369 
have put up than with that of a favourite character in 
a favourite book ? Somebody dies, and you talk him 
or her over, comfortably, with somebody else; but 
fancy turning to Emma, say, and finding there was 
no Mr. Woodhouse, or no Miss Bates ! 
Well, I was soon in a southward-going steamer, and 
here I read a paper entitled ‘‘ Observations on the 
Distinctions, History, and Hunting of Seals in the 
Shetland Islands,” by the late Dr. Laurence Edmond- 
stone, M.D., of Balta Sound, lent me by the present 
representative of the family, and Laird of Unst, to 
whom I am indebted for all I have been able to see, 
either of seals or sea-birds, whilst in that island. Here 
was something to compare with my own observations, 
and my first endeavour was to find out the specific 
identity of the two large seals that I had watched with 
so much interest. To the best of my ability I have 
described the exact appearance of each of them, as seen 
by me, for hours at a time, at close quarters, and often 
examined through the glasses, and I have speculated 
on the likelihood of the two representing the male and 
female of one and the same species. This conjecture is 
supported by what Dr. Edmondstone says, since he 
states that the sexes of the great seal (phoca barbata) 
differ much from one another, nor does he think that, 
besides the great seal and the common one (phoca 
vitulina—as a Scotchman he would surely have ap- 
proved my emendation here), any other species is to 
be found around the Shetland coasts. Yet his descrip- 
tion of the skin-markings of both the male and 
2B 
