SEAL -SHOOTING. 89 



one of the monsters lay stretched on the sea. My 

 second barrel was ready for his companion, which 

 of course had dived, but his curiosity being satis- 

 fied, he never reappeared. The boatman obeyed 

 my signal at his utmost speed, and all but upset 

 the coble in dragging the seal on board. It was a 

 male, and weighed 9 stone. 



The weather continuing calm and warm, the 

 same shoal a few days after settled on one of the 

 further rocks, but the look-out was too open to 

 permit our cheating -them again, so there was no- 

 thing to be done but raise the long sight. I fired 

 at three in line, and must have hit a pair of them, 

 for we traced two tracks of blood to the sea, enter- 

 ing it from opposite sides of the rock. The sur- 

 face was also covered with their fur, but the water 

 was far too deep to allow any hope of detecting 

 them at the bottom if dead. 



The seals were now getting shy of these rocks, 

 but a burning day again enticed them to try a 

 siesta ; this time, however, they cunningly chose 

 a bare exposure, all but safe from surprise. On 

 taking a survey with the telescope from the main- 

 land, I arranged a plan by which we had a pros- 



