SEAL. 



639 



the Cclacea? unless when obtained from the sperma- 

 ceti, or half crystallised stearine ; and the great mar- 

 kets for it are Europe and America. The three prin- 

 cipal kinds of sea oil are whale oil, seal oil, and cod 

 oil, the last obtained from the livers of the fish, and 

 preferable to every other for the dressing of leather. 

 We believe that, by some absurd custom-house law, 

 whale oil is the only one of the three which is called 

 fisk oil, although it is not fish oil ; and that, in some 

 places at least, the others escape the annoyance, both 

 of the protections and prohibitions which affect this. 

 A good many of the skins are also brought to Eu- 

 rope and America, but the grand market for them 

 and for all furs is China. The fur seals are also 

 found upon the shores of the southern lands in 

 May, June, July, and part of August; and they re- 

 turn again in November and December, at which time 

 the females produce their young, which they suckle 

 for about nine months. It is generally saidjthat the 

 seals swallow pebbles as a sort of ballast before they 

 go to sea, and discharge them again by the mouth 

 when they come on land ; but the story is not in 

 very good keeping with what we observe in nature, 

 where our opportunities of observing are more fa- 

 vourable than they are in the case of the seals. 



On the eastern coasts of Siberia, both to the north- 

 ward of the Aleutian Islands, and between these 

 islands and the Kurile chain, seals are exceedingly 

 abundant ; and their manners might be more easily 

 studied in those seas than in any others. They there 

 ascend the rivers to a very considerable distance after 

 the fishes ; and in some of our own rivers, a stray 

 seal sometimes makes its appearance ten or twelve 

 miles above the brackish water ; but this is so rare, 

 that the animal is shown as a curiosity, and its ap- 

 pearance is supposed to be of an ominous character. 

 The pairing time in the North Pacific is about April, 

 and the females have only one young at a birth. The 

 milk of the seals is of very superior quality, and the 

 women of the dreary shores of Kamtschatka and the 

 neighbouring lands procure it as a medicine for their 

 children. They cannot be regarded as the flocks and 

 herds belonging in property to the people of these 

 inhospitable lands ; but they answer many very use- 

 ful purposes. The skins serve for clothing, for boats, 

 for sails, for tents, and for various other articles ; the 

 fat is made into candles, or burned in lamps ; the 

 flesh is dried and smoked for winter provisions, and 

 the recent flesh is cooked for the table ; that of the 

 young in particular is said to be very good. Not- 

 withstanding all these uses, the seals cost the people 

 nothing but the capture, which is an easy matter 

 in places where the animals are numerous. There is 

 also no doubt that they could be brought into a state 

 of complete domestication, so that their usefulness 

 would be greatly extended ; and where land is ill 

 adapted for flocks, the sea might be made a sort of 

 substitute. 



We shall now notice a few of the principal species ; 

 first, of the seals properly so called, Phocce ; and then 

 of the eared seals, Ola.i/a. 



PIIOCA. The leading characters are : No exter- 

 nal conchae to the ears ; the fore teeth with single 

 trenchant points, and the cheek teeth always with 

 more than one ; the hind feet with pointed claws 

 placed on the margin of the web by which the toes 

 are united. As the specific distinctions are not very 

 clear, it may, perhaps, be better to take these in the 

 three geographical divisions : First, seals of the 



North Atlantic ; second, of the North Pacific ; and 

 third, of the South Sea. 



SEALS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC. These are the 

 best known ; but it is probable that, even among them, 

 coloured varieties have been described as species, 

 and species have been overlooked. 



THE COMMON SEAL (Phoca mtulina) must be con- 

 sidered as the typical one of the genus. It is found 

 upon the shores of all the colder places of Europe ; 

 but it is most abundant in the currents and narrow 

 waters, as we have mentioned generally of the fa- 

 mily. It is usually about five or six feet in length, 

 but some specimens are more than this. The colour 

 is yellowish grey, mottled over with dusky spots ; 

 but it is not constant. The skin, and the short hair 

 upon it, are yellowish ; and the long hairs have a 

 grey tint and shining surface. When the animal 

 rises immediately out of the water, these hairs, which 

 are flattened, are laid close to the skin, and com- 

 pletely conceal it ; but as they dry they stand more 

 detached from the skin and from each other, Which 

 varies the change of colour to a yellowish tint, on 

 all parts from the ridge of the back where the hairs 

 are closest. When they get very old, the hairs turn 

 very pale grey, and in some cases almost white. Some 

 individuals are also much darker than others, and 

 almost black when they first come out of the water ; 

 and there are very great differences in the size and 

 number of the spots. In short, there is no depend- 

 ence in colour or any part of the description of these 

 animals. 



Common seals, though these may perhaps be 

 classed among animals which are familiar in their 

 manners, are yet very watchful and wary. W r hen 

 they are at rest on the banks, they very frequently 

 raise up their heads to see if there is any chance of 

 danger. In the estuaries, where there are banks in 

 the mid channel dry at low water, though still sur- 

 rounded, they take up their station there in great 

 numbers ; and they appear to be more suspicious of 

 a boat than of a ship : for we have seen them remain 

 quite undisturbed while a vessel sailed by close to the 

 bank ; and yet shuffle very speedily into the water 

 if a small race-boat came within the same distance. 

 Even in the case of the boat, they appear to make a 

 distinction between one which is simply passing by, 

 and one which is making for the bank on which they 

 are reposing. They are also very expert at setting 

 at their prey, and in escaping from any entanglement 

 into which they may get in the pursuit of it. When 

 stake-nets for the capture of salmon were allowed to 

 be erected in the estuaries, the seals often found their 

 way into the labyrinths of the nets, enjoyed a com- 

 fortable meal of salmon there, and got out again in 

 perfect safety ; arid when they get enclosed into nets 

 from which they cannot find a passage, they creep 

 through below, or scramble over the top with much 

 adroitness. They appear to be more partial to sal- 

 mon than to any other fish, and in some places they 

 follow them into the lakes, when these are not at any 

 great distance from the sea ; and to accomplish this 

 they will stem the current of a very rapid river. 



On the British shores they usually bring forth their 

 young in June, which are either one or two in num- 

 ber, but never more. The places where this happens 

 are the most secluded caves and holes in the rocks, 

 in which the young remain for some time, the mother 

 going into the water to find their own food, and re- 

 turning to the cave to feed their young. They 



