SEALS. 183 



sleek, shining head disappears again below the surface 

 without making a ripple on the water, just as you have 

 screwed yourself round, and are about to touch the trigger of 

 your rifle, leaving you almost in doubt as to whether it is a 

 seal or a mermaid. The Highlanders, however, are by no 

 means prepossessed in favour of the good looks of a seal, or 

 " sealgh," as they pronounce the word. " You are nothing 

 but a sealgh " is a term of reproach which, when given by 

 one fishwoman to another, is considered the direct insult, and 

 a climax to every known term of abuse. 



It is curious to observe the seals resting on some shallow, 

 with only their heads above the water, and their noses 

 elongated into a proboscis-like shape. They will frequently 

 lie in this manner for hours together, until the return of the 

 tide either floats them off their resting-place, or some other 

 cause induces them to shift their quarters. The greatest 

 drawback in most localities to shooting seals is the difficulty 

 of getting the animal when killed. Tenacious of life to a 

 surprising degree, a seal, unless shot through the head, 

 escapes to the water, however severely wounded he may be, 

 and, sinking to the bottom, is lost to the sportsman. When 

 shot through the head, he struggles for perhaps a minute on 

 the surface, and then sinks like a stone to the bottom. A 

 strong courageous retriever sometimes succeeds in towing a 

 dead seal ashore, if he can reach him before he sinks, and 

 has the good luck or judgment to take hold of one of the 

 animal's feet, or " flippers," the only part which the dog can 

 get into his mouth. 



A seal has a very acute scent, and can never be approached 

 from the windward I conceive that their eyesight is less 

 perfect ; at any rate they are endowed with a certain danger- 

 ous curiosity which makes them anxious to approach and 

 reconnoitre any object which they may have seen at a little 

 distance, and do not quite understand. I have seen a seal 

 swim up to within twenty yards of a dog on the shore, for 

 the purpose apparently of examining him, as some unknown 

 animal. Music, too, or any uncommon or loud noise attracts 

 them ; and they will follow for a considerable distance the 

 course of a boat in which any loud musical instrument is 

 played, putting up their heads, and listening with great 

 eagerness to the unknown strains. I have even seen them 

 approach boldly to the shore, where a bagpiper was playing, 

 and continue to swim off' and on at a hundred yards' distance. 



