IN THE SHETLANDS 371 
probability I should not have seen it again, and I 
should, therefore, have had nothing to record about 
its appearance in the water, as seen under exceptionally 
favourable conditions—for I was looking down upon 
it from a moderate height. In the same way, had 
my intention been to shoot the phocas, what should 1 
now know of their play, their fun, their humour, 
their gambolling with spars, wrapping themselves 
round with seaweed, polite insistence, petulant make- 
believe, and all the rest of it? Instead, there would 
have been a shot, et preterea nihi/—and this, indeed, 
was just what it was, with me, years ago in the 
Hebrides. That is what sport does for observation. 
Continuing his description of the male of the 
great seal, Dr. Edmondstone says, ‘The snout is 
very elongated; the nose aquiline, very similar in 
profile to that of a ram ; the muzzle very broad and 
fleshy, and the upper lip and nose extending about 
three inches beyond the lower jaw, so that in seizing 
its prey the animal seems obliged, as I have often 
seen, to make a slight turn, in the manner of a shark.” 
This last is interesting in connection with the roll 
round on to the back, which my sea-leopard—or 
rather, great seal—always made, when going down. 
It shows that it is a familiar motion with this species, 
and therefore, perhaps, that it might sometimes be 
indulged in whilst catching fish, even though it were 
not quite necessary. The common seal also frequently 
turns on its back in the water, so that I should think 
the one posture was as familiar to it as the other. 
