THE GREAT SEAL*. 



IN those parts of the Northern Atlantic where 

 the Great Seals mostly abound, they are often to 

 be seen, collected in considerable numbers, upon 

 huge masses of detached and floating ice. They 

 are exceedingly timid animals; and are much 

 sought after by the Greenlanders, who kill them 

 with harpoons and lances, chiefly for the sake of 

 their fat, which they eat, and consider as of pecu- 

 liarly delicious flavour. The flesh, the blood, the 

 intestines, and tendons, like those of the Common 

 Seal, have all their uses. The skins of the old Seals 

 are cut into thongs, and applied to various pur- 

 poses; and these people stuff their beds with the 

 hair of the young ones. 



When the animals become large and fat, they lose 

 a great portion of their original activity, and swim 

 very slowly and heavily. They feed on various 

 kinds of fish, such as the holibut, cod, haddock, 

 and others which are found in shoals in the northern 

 seas. 





* Phoca barbata. Linnaeus. Le grand Phoque. Buffbn. 

 For the description of the Great Seal, see the Synopsis, p. 13, No. 8. 



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The 



