510 THE SEAL. 
sink out of reach unless struck by a barbed fish-spear, which should always be kept 
in readiness for that purpose. 
Much sea-craft is required for the chase of the Seal, as well as considerable knowledge 
of the animal and its habits. It is a remarkable fact that if the Seal be disturbed while 
the tide is ebbing, it will always make its way seawards; but that if it be alarmed while 
the tide is flowing, it will direct its course towards the land. 
The Seal is also a good natural barometer, and by its movements indicates to a 
practised eye the forthcoming changes in the weather. Whenever an old Seal is seen 
rolling and tumbling along a bank, a storm of wind and rain is sure to ensue before 
many hours have passed. 
This species of Seal, in common with several others, is mightily fond of musical sounds, 
and has often been known to follow a boat while some one was playing on a musical 
instrument. Some persons say that the Seal-shooters ought always to be accompanied 
by a piper in order to induce the Seals to approach, and assert that the animals prefer 
the sound of the bagpipes to that of any other instrument, an assertion which, if true, 
only shows that the Seal must be in the very earliest stage of musical feeling. 
The Common Seal is very easily tamed, and speedily becomes one of the most docile 
of animals, attaching itself with strong affection to its human friends, and developing 
a beautifully gentle and loving nature, hardly to be expected in such an animal. Many 
of these creatures have been taken when young, and have been strongly domesticated 
with their captors, considering themselves to belong of right to the household, and taking 
their share of the fireside with the other members of the family. An interesting account 
of a tame Seal was lately sent to the Fveld newspaper, and runs as follows :— 
“Tf taken young and treated kindly, the Seal will rival the dog in sagacity and 
affection for its master. 
When a boy, I was presented by some fishermen with one apparently not more than 
a fortnight old, which in a few weeks became perfectly tame and domesticated, would 
follow me about, eat from my hand, and showed unmistakeable signs of recognition and 
attachment whenever I approached. It was fond of heat, and would lie for hours at the 
kitchen fire, raising its head to look at every new comer, but never attempting to bite, 
and would nestle close to the dogs, who soon became quite reconciled to their new 
friend. 
Unfortunately the winter after I obtained it was unusually rough and stormy. Upon 
that wild coast boats could seldom put to sea, and the supply of fish became scanty and 
precarious. We were obliged to substitute milk in its place, of which the Seal consumed 
large quantities, and as the scarcity of other food still continued, it was determined, 
in a family council, that it should be consigned to its own element, to shift for 
itself. 
Accompanied by a clergyman who took a great interest in my pet, I rowed out for 
a couple of miles to sea, and dropped it quietly overboard. Very much to our astonish- 
ment, however, we found that it was not so easy to shake it off. Fast as we pulled away 
it swam still faster after the boat, crying all the time so loudly that it might easily have 
been heard a mile away, and so pitifully that we were obliged to take it in again and 
bring it home, where, after this new proof of attachment, it lived in clover for several 
months, and I believe might still be in existence but for the untimely fate which 
most pets are doomed sooner or later to experience, and to which this one was no 
exception.” 
A somewhat similar story is told in Maxwell's “Wild Sports of the West,” 
where may be found a very interesting and touching narrative of a tamed Seal, which 
lived for several years with a family, and which, although it was repeatedly taken out 
to sea in a boat and thrown overboard, always found its way back again to the house 
which it loved, even contriving to creep through an open window and to gain access to 
the warm fireside. The end of this poor creature was a sadly tragic one, and need not 
be narrated here. ; 
In the same work is a very spirited account of another Seal adventure, in which the 
ludicrous element prevails, although it might have furnished material for tragedy. 
