168 ROUGH OB BRISTLED SEAL. 



This account has all the semblance of accuracy ; 

 and so far as the markings of the skin are concerned, 

 entirely agrees with one now before us, and from 

 which the colouring of our plate is taken. Crantz 

 says, " the hair does not lie smooth, but is bristly, 

 and intermixed like pig's hair ;" and again, it is said 

 "to be bristled like the Polar bear." On making 

 some enquiries respecting Seals-skins at a respect- 

 able dealer,* he informed us that he was quite fa- 

 miliar with two or three kinds, brought from the 

 Northern fishery, and which were perfectly distinct 

 from each other, and of a marked and uniform ap- 

 pearance. Some of these he immediately showed 

 us, and was kind enough to supply for our use. 

 The skin, now before us, is precisely four and a 

 half feet long ; and, according to our intelligent 

 informant, those of this sort never exceed this 

 length, whilst their breadth is proportionably small. 

 Its markings, too, are invariably nearly the same, 

 and could not be better described than in the words 

 of Fabricius. The robe is composed of long coarse 

 hairs, some of which, when dry, have a tendency 

 to curve somewhat backwards, and of soft woolly 

 hair beneath. Most of the long hairs are white, 

 but in those parts where the skin has a brownish 

 tint, some of this last colour are intermixed, which 

 produces a grizzly appearance. The colour varies 

 much according to the light in which we regard the 

 robe : In some lights it has a silvery brightness, 

 and in others it is quite dull. Crantz says that 



* Mr BoswelL Nicolson Street, Edinburgh. 



