GREAT SEAL. 151 



The average weight of the Tapvaist is somewhere 

 about thirty stones, or 420 pounds, (implying dimen- 

 sions, we conceive, as large as those given by Fa- 

 bricius.) It is, upon the whole, solitary in its habits, 

 and frequents the most distant and undisturbed 

 places. It is not so lively or watchful as the Com* 

 mon Seal, nor is it so easily alarmed. One of the 

 distinguishing traits of this species is the time of its 

 producing its young, viz. in the end of September, 

 or beginning of October, whilst the usual time of 

 the other is the beginning of June. The young, 

 whose colour we have already mentioned, remain 

 on the rocks for several weeks before they can 

 swim. Sportsmen, when they discover the young 

 in this condition, do not approach it, lest the old one, 

 which has a strong sense of smell, should be alarmed 

 by the scent of the footsteps, but they conceal 

 themselves at some point of the rock within gun- 

 shot, and wait the flow of the tide, when the old 

 one invariably returns to give the whelps suck. 

 These Seals are of late years become very rare on 

 the Western coasts." 



As exhibiting the favourite haunts of this and 

 the other species, we shall borrow a few remarks 

 from the lively pen of Dr Hibbert. " To the North 

 of Papa-Stour high cliffs succeed, which are exten- 

 sively excavated by the waters of the ocean. The 

 most remarkable of these is Christie's Hole. It can 

 be explored by means of a boat, a labour that is 

 only to be accomplished in the calmest weather. 



