THE COMMON SEAL. (51 



informs us, that each of them is so watchful for 

 himself, as seldom to repose longer than a minute, 

 without raising up his head to listen if any attack is 

 threatened -*. Notwithstanding these accounts,, there 

 is reason to suppose that the sleep of Seals is as 

 profound,, or nearly as profound, as that of most 

 other quadrupeds. It is during this that the hunters 

 chiefly contrive to attack them ; and when they 

 thus come upon them unawares, they often destroy 

 them in great numbers. 



The coast of Caithness, at the northern extremity 

 of Scotland, is perhaps better known for the pur- 

 suit of Seals than that of any other part of Great 

 Britain. On this coast there are immense caverns 

 opening to the sea, and running some hundreds of 

 yards beneath the land. These, during the breeding 

 season, are the resort of Seals, which continue here 

 till their offspring are old enough to go to sea. 

 The first of them is the Ord of Caithness: the last 

 is near Thumster. Their entrance is so narrow as 

 only to admit a boat, whilst within they are very 

 spacious and lofty. In the month of October 

 or November, the Seal-hunters, furnished with 

 torches and bludgeons, enter the mouths of the 

 caverns about midnight. After the men have 

 landed, they make a great noise, which alarms the 

 animals, and brings them down in vast multitudes, 

 and great confusion, towards the mouth, to escape. 



* Pennant's British Zoology, i. p. 144. 



When 





