206 COMMON SEAL. 



water beautifully figured with a wavy succession of 

 concentric circles. 



" On hot days in summer, I have seen great num- 

 bers of them stretched in groups on the rocks at the 

 Bottom of Seal Bay, which had been left dry on 

 their upper surface by the receding tide. There 

 they would lie lazily along, basking in the warm 

 sun, like so many large swine, and nearly of the 

 same colour. These were, I believe, a species of 

 much greater size, and of a lighter colour than my 

 musical-eared friends already spoken of; and as far 

 as my observation goes, not at all alive to the har- 

 mony of sweet sounds. I may, however, be mis- 

 taken in this last particular I speak only of what 

 I have witnessed. 



" The fishermen on the island used to assert that, 

 like many other animals both of the land and the 

 water, they never repose without stationing a sen- 

 tinel on the watch. I cannot positively confirm this ; 

 but I have often observed that, during the general 

 slumber, one of the number, but not always the 

 same individual, would raise its head for a second 

 9r two, turning it half round, and again stretch 

 itself in repose. Ever and anon, too, we would 

 hear from some one of the group a melancholy 

 moan coming slowly over the surface of the deep, 

 wild and savage in the sound, and not unlike, per- 

 haps, what we may suppose to be * the wolfs long 

 howl from Oonalaska's shore.' 



" In situations like the above, I have sometimes let 

 fly a ball at them, but not being an expert marks- 



