-i-16 SEAL-SHOOTIXa. 



should the sun be shiuins? — ^the beams of which dazzle the 

 eyes of the Seal — he must, if possible, have his back to it.* 

 But of all things lie should be minded to keep under the 

 lee of the animal, for if it once get scent of him — 

 and its sense of smelling is by all accounts wonderful — it 

 will be off at once ; and as it always lies nigh to the edge 

 of the " Skiil-Sten," a single movement of its flippers 

 carries it into the water. 



Should the hunter succeed in getting within gunshot 

 of the Seal, and that from its position the choice rests witli 

 himself, he aims either at the head, the neck, or tlie 

 breast, which are said to be its most vulnerable parts. 

 But unless the animal be killed outright, as not often 

 happens, it for the most part flounders into the sea, and is 

 generally lost to the man ; for unless very fat, which 

 in the summer time is rarely the case, it for the most 

 part sinks at once to the bottom, and if the water there- 

 abouts be deep, serves only as food for fishes. To guard, 

 as far as may be, against this contingency, the hunter 

 forthwith anchors the small buoy with which he is always 

 provided, near the spot (usually indicated by its blood) f 



* The liuntei-, to conceal his movements, not unfrequently erects a sort 

 of " screen " out of an old sail, or what not, on a rock, or islet, near the 

 " Skiil-Sten," and when the Seal ha.s crept on to the latter, he, taking 

 advantage of tlie "screen," is eualjled, without much difficulty, to get 

 witliin range of tlie animal. 



+ Bloniqvist, an old and successful seal-lmnter on the west coast of 

 Sweden, tells me that even after it has disappe;xred (provided the dejoth is not 

 greater than three or four fathoms) a small quiescent circle, caused by the 

 oily matter which has exuded from the animal's body, is always observable 

 immediately above the sj)ot where the carcase lies ; and that should this 

 little circle be carried away by the wind and waves, a similar one will 

 presently supjsly its place. Blomqvist tells me further, that if a Seal has, 

 the instant after inhaling, i-eceived its death-wound, when its lungs in 

 consequence are full of air, it will not sink for sonic little time afterwards ; 

 but if, on the contrary, just subsequent to exhaling, it goes down almost 



