418 A DROWSY PHOCA. 



grcgatc, and where their disagreeable cries, resembling 

 somewhat the grunt of a pig, may be heard in evexy direc- 

 tion. Having ascertained their whereabouts, he rows to 

 the spot and conceals himself behind a stone or otherwise. 

 Here for a time he remains silent, but after the lapse of 

 an hour or so, commences to " call," when the animals, 

 which, alarmed at his first appearance, had retreated, 

 begin to return and to collect about him. The work of 

 destruction now commences, and as the seals swim to and 

 fm near his ambush, with their heads well out of the 

 water, an expert shot may often kill several before the 

 I'est finally disperse. The weather ought to be pretty 

 calm, otherwise the seals will not hear his "Lack ; " and 

 the wind should be from the land, for, if in the opposite 

 direction, they would be instantly aware of his presence, 

 and make a precipitate retreat. 



Once in a time, when the sea is quite calra, the Seal 

 is met with fast asleep on the surface in a bolt-upright 

 position, and with the half of its body out of the water. 

 These drowsy gentlemen have occasionally given rise to 

 scenes of a rather ludicrous character. " A tenant of 

 mine," says M. Holmers, when speaking of the Gulf of 

 Bothnia, " started early one fine December morning, in a 

 small skiff, in search of seals. A huge fellow was soon 

 observed by him lying motionless on the water. He 

 advanced silently and cautiously towards it, hugging him- 

 self in the belief that, under the favourable circumstances, 

 he would soon be enabled to claim it as his own. When, 

 however, he had approached near the animal, which 

 exhibited no signs whatever of life, he surmised naturally 

 enough that it must have been wounded shortly before by 

 a brother sportsman, and was then quite dead. Congratu- 

 lating himself on his good fortune in thus, without trouble 

 or expenditure of ammunition, obtaining possession of 

 so rich a prize, he, without further ceremony, rowed right 



