39 3 THE COMMON SEAL. 



of Scandinavia, from the Sound to far beyond the Polar 

 Circle ; as also in the Baltic, and in the gulfs of Bothnia 

 and Finland. Though confined to the sea, so far as the 

 Peninsula is concerned, it would seem to thrive MI- 11 in 

 fresh water, it not uufrequently being met with near 

 Kongelf, situate ten to twelve (English) miles above 

 Gothenburg, where many have been shot. It has been 

 seen, indeed, as high up the river Gotha as Lilla Edet, 

 distant some forty or fifty miles from the sea ; and farther 

 it cannot proceed, owing to the cataracts at that place. 



Its usual length is from five to six feet, and weight 

 about two hundred pounds; butat times,so old seal-hunters 

 assure me, it attains to a very much larger size. M. Gust a I' 

 Holmers estimates its blubber alone at from one hundred 

 and twenty to one hundred and forty pounds; but this 

 in the winter, when it is usually excessively fat ; for during 

 the heats of summer, at which time it is said to eat but 

 sparingly and to become lean, it has but little. It never 

 congregates in any considerable numbers; more than a few, 

 indeed, are seldom seen together ; neither is it often met 

 with far from land, but confines itself mostly to the fjords 

 and inlets on the coast. Ileuee is derived its Swedish 

 name of Vikare, or Bay Seal; and owing to its frequent 

 habit of reposing on rocks, its Norwegian designation 

 of Steen-Kobbe, or Hock Seal. 



The Common Seal and the following remarks as to its 

 habits apply nearly equally to other Seals is an admirable 

 swimmer, and, like the Shark, often seizes its prey 

 when on its back. It is also an excellent diver, and can 

 remain under water a very long time. "We read, for 

 instance, of one of the*e aninnls ' struggling in the folds 

 of a net for more than live-and-t\venty minutes, without 

 performing a single respiration, and yet being alive when 

 brought to the surface." 



The way in which it ascends a rock, if at all precipitous, 



