ON SEALS AND SEALERS 159 



yielded to be eaten after a prolonged and bloody 

 struggle. It takes two men at least to kill one, for 

 one man has to divert the animal's attention by 

 striking its tail, while the other endeavours to hit 

 it under the jaw as it turns round. 



The most important hair seal, however, is the 

 harp. It is the variety which resort to the ice to 

 breed in such countless thousands, and which the 

 sealing vessels go out in pursuit of. The process 

 of breeding is most interesting. The following ac- 

 count was given me by Captain Blandford, of New- 

 foundland, perhaps the most successful of all the 

 bold sealing captains: 



"Soon after we got jammed in the ice there ap- 

 peared from the water four or five old seals, which 

 scrambled up on to its surface. Within five minutes 

 there were 500 seals on it, and in half an hour 

 200,000 as nearly as we could guess. Scarcely had 

 they come to rest on the ice when they commenced 

 throwing their young, and at once, after whelping, 

 those close to us, being somewhat frightened by the 

 ship, jumped back into the sea, leaving the little 

 seals whimpering exactly like babies." 



The young are born about the ist of March, and 

 are very small, fat, and snowy white, remaining so 

 up till the 2oth to 25th, i.e. about three weeks, be- 

 tween which date and the ist of April they are big 

 enough to take to the water. During this period they 

 are known as " whitecoats." They grow so rapidly 

 that you can almost see them growing, though on 



