392 ITS DISPOSITION. 



credible distance, and that its cunning in evading the 

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

 by the keenness with which it relishes its food, fe\\ 

 animals possess the sense in greater perfection. " The 

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

 " never waters more at the prospect of a rich repast than 

 that of the Seal when in expectation of its common 

 sustenance. A copious saliva fills and flows from its 

 mouth during deglutition, and not less so the moment 

 the Seal perceives its prey." 



In disposition it is mild and confiding, and if left 

 unmolested, would 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 ofP<t]>" 

 TJ^estrai/, 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 re-entered our boat, they followed it in the narnm 

 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 the 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 

 was calm and sunny and the sea smooth, crowding around 

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

 had some kind of notion that we were of the same 

 species, or, at least, trenus, with themselves. The gambols 



