410 THK II(K)I)Kl) OK CIIKSTKD SKA I,. 



whiskers and glaring eyes, il has at Midi times a very wild 

 and savage look. It is said to breed in Fd>rnury or 

 March, and that the female has never more than a single 

 calf at a time. This, at its birth, as is the ease in mo-t 

 other species of Seals, has a wool-like covering, which is 

 described by Thienemann as of a yellowish colour, but by 

 Fabricius as blue-grey, and about the stomach as white 

 (liruli'N ri'iilrt 1 (tlbo). 



Though the Bearded Seal is represented as a timid and 

 cautious animal, it is nevertheless very curious, and often 

 thereby gets itself into difficulties, as, for the purpose of 

 examining the boat of the hunter, it will approach so near 

 it as to be easily readied with the gun or even the 

 harpoon. It is highly esteemed by the Greenlandcr ; for 

 though it docs not yield much oil, vet its lard is looked on 







by him as most delicious. It was from Hie skin of this 

 Seal and the "Walrus, we are told, that the ancient Scan- 

 dinavians formed their ropes and cables, called by them 

 svardr and svardrcip, which were so strong that the 

 united efforts of sixty men were unable to break them. 



The llooded or Crested Seal (Mhis-Skiil, or bladder-seal; 

 J\/iijiji,,i>/fKtt, Sw. ; riioro cr/n/tiftt, (imel.; Ci/xfoji/mnt 

 i-i-ixliilii, Krxl.) is likewise an occasional visitor to the more 

 northern of the Scandinavian coasts, where it commonly 

 goes by the name of Kik-Ncbb, or I\<ibbutx-l\ubb<; meaning 

 t he capped seal ; but by the Lapps is called .//;/">, or l-'<tlt<>- 

 Nuorjo, that is the stomach-seal, because those people 

 liken its head and mu//le to the stomach of a rein-deer. 

 On the coast of Nordlanden (Norway) its singular look has 

 given rise, amongst the fishermen and others, to many 

 superstitious and fabulous storie>. Klakkt-kulli //, the name 

 by which he is there known, appears, according to th 

 men, in the form of a large and hairy black man, with 

 \\\\_ grown together as to resemble tins, and having 



a cap on his head. lie is rarely seen, th--\ Bay, but allirm 



