CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE SEALS 



gun to rise, and then, having made up a breastwork of 

 sand and weed, I wait for the appearance of the seals, who 

 frequently, before the tide has risen much, come floating 

 in.with their heads above the water. If they do not perceive 

 my embankment, I am nearly certain of a shot, but if they 

 do, they generally keep over on the opposite side of the 

 channel, watching it so closely that on the least movement 

 on my part they instantly dive. So quick are their move- 

 ments in the water, that I find it impossible to strike a seal 

 with ball if he is watching me, for quick and certain as is a 

 detonating gun, they are still quicker, and dive before the 

 ball can reach them. As for a flint gun, it has not a chance 

 with them. Within thememory of some of the people here, 

 seals were very numerous about this part of the coast, and 

 were constantly killed by the farmers for the sake of their 

 oil, and with no weapons except their hoes or spades, with 

 which they attacked them when lying on the sand-banks. 

 It is but seldom that I see them resting on the shore, but 

 occasionally watch them in that situation, as they either 

 lay sleeping on the banks or play about, which, notwith- 

 standing their unwieldy appearance, they sometimes do. 

 At other times they engage in the most determined battles 

 with each other, fighting like bulldogs, and uttering loud 

 mournful cries. In waiting for seals, attention must be paid 

 more to the state of the tide than to the time of day, al- 

 though certainly, like all wild animals, they appear less on 

 their guard at early dawn than at any other hour. The seal 

 generally takes the same course every day at the same 

 height of tide, and basks on the same rock or sand-bank 

 during low-water. They show themselves much less in 

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