392 ITS DISPOSITION. 



credible distance, aud that its cunning in evading the 

 enemy is past belief. And if its taste is to be judged of 

 by the keenness with Avhich it relishes its food, few 

 animals possess the sense in greater pei'fection. " The 

 mouth of the greatest gourmand," says M. F. Cuvier, 

 " never Avaters more at the prospect of a rich rejiast than 

 that of the Seal A^hen in expectation of its common 

 sustenance. A copious saliva fills and flows from its 

 mouth during deulutition, and not less so the moment 

 tlie Seal perceives its prey." 



In disposition it is mild and confiding, and if left 

 nnmolested, woidd seem rather to court the society of 

 man than to dread his presence. Professor Trail, when 

 speaking of an islet in the Orkneys, called the Holm of Papa 

 Westray, for a long time the favourite resort of nume- 

 rous Seals, which had become unusually tame, owing to the 

 protection afforded them by the owner of the property, 

 says : " On visiting this spot in 1833, I found the Seals 

 exhibited their wonted confidence in those who approached 

 their protected haunts. Several of them swam abreast of 

 our party (six to eight in number) as we walked along the 

 beach, and did not in general keep farther off' than thirty 

 to forty yards. When we turned, so did they; and when 

 we I'e-entered our boat, they followed it in the narrow 

 channel that divides Holm from the Island of Papa." 



Again, " Whilst I and my pupils," says Mr. Dunbar, 

 when speaking of the island in question, " were bathing, 

 as was our custom, in tlie bosom of a beautiful bay, 

 named ' Seal Bay,' from the circumstance of its being 

 a favourite resort of theirs, numbers of those creatures 

 invariably made their appearance, especially if the weather 

 Avas calm and sunnv and the sea smooth, crowdinj? ai'ound 

 us at the distance of a few yards, and looking as if they 

 ]).ad some kind of notion that we were of the same 

 species, or, at least, genus, Avith themselves. The gambols 



