CHAPTER VIII. 



SEALS AND SEA-LIOKS. 



"One of the herd of Proteus," said the Antiquary " a phoca or seal 

 lying asleep on the beach." SCOTT. 



IF, as some would have us believe, it be the special 

 function and final cause of dumb animals to minister, alive 

 or dead, to the wants of man, seals and sea-lions should 

 have easy consciences. They do their duty to the tune of 

 yielding up something like half a million of lives in every 

 year. To the fine lady they give their soft warm under 

 fur; for the Aleutian they provide nearly all the neces- 

 sary articles of his simple life. Their skins are stretched 

 on frames to form his canoe; their dried flesh becomes 

 a choice article of food ; their blubber is used for fuel, 

 and the oil from their fat is burnt in lamps ; their sinews 

 are twisted into thread ; the lining of their throats is 

 tanned into leather for boots, of which the soles are made 

 from their fin-like flippers ; the intestines are dried and 

 worked up into waterproof clothing ; their stomachs are 

 turned inside out and converted into oil-jars or receptacles 

 for preserved meat ; their very whiskers are plucked out 

 and sold to the Chinese as pickers for their opium pipes ; 

 and their babies are stolen from the murdered mothers, 

 and sent to the Zoos of Europe. Where can you match 

 these creatures for conscientious all-round utility ? 



