116 SEA I -siiOMi l\ii. 



sliould the sun be sinning the beams of which <l:iz/,l<- the 

 eyes of the Seal he must, if possible, have his back to it.* 

 But of all things lie should be minded to keep under HIP 

 lee of the animal, for if it once get scent of him 

 and its sense of smelling is by all accounts wonderful it 

 will be off at once; and as it always lies nigh to the i-d-v 

 of the " Skal-Stcn," a single movement of its Hipper* 

 carries it into the water. 



Should the hunter succeed in getting within gunshot 

 of the Seal, and that from its position the choice rests \\ith 

 himself, he aims either at the head, the neck, or the 

 breast, which are said to he its most vulnerable parts. 

 But unless the animal bo killed outright, as not often 

 happens, it for the most part flounders into the sea, and is 

 generally lost to the man ; for unless very fat, which 

 in the summer time is rarely the ease, it for the most 

 part sinks at once to the bottom, and if the water there- 

 abouts be deep, serves only as food for fishes. To 'iiard, 

 as far as may be, against this contingency, the hunter 

 forthwith anchors the small buoy with which lie is always 

 provided, near the spot (usually indicated by its blood)t 



* The hunter, to conceal his movement*, not iiiifrc<[ui-iitly civets 

 of "screen" out of an old sail, or what not, nn :i rock, m- Met, near the 

 "Skill St. -11," and when the Heal hits crept on t<> the latter, he, taking 

 advantage of the "screen," is enal.led, without much ilitli-ulty, t. 

 within range of the animal. 



t BlonKjvist, an old and successful seal hunter on the west DM 

 Sweden, tellsnietli.il BTOB after it ha- disappear.- 1 (provided tin- depth is not 



it.-r than three or four fathoms} ;i small ipiic.-ccnt circle, e.-ni.-cd liy the 

 oily inatlt-r which has exuded from the animal's l.dy. isalwav- ..!,-, rvahle 

 immediately aKove the spot where the carcase lie-; and that should this 

 little circle be curried away l>v tin- wind and WMTM, similar one will 



. ntlv supply its place. I'.! |\ i>t tcils nn- further, that if a Seal ha-, 



the in-taut after inhaling, received its death wound, when its lung's in 



sequence are full of air, it will not sink for some little time afterwards ; 



l.ut if, on (he contrary, just suK-e juent to exhalin'.'. it x<'* down ah 



