SEALS 189 



its heart, and it moved no more. Merite, who 

 had been an interested spectator of the scene, 

 had obtained photographs of this denouement. 

 He was sorry that the seal, when first wounded, 

 had not leapt forward into the sea. The sight 

 of the dead, still bleeding, animal nauseated 

 him. For my part, I was only too happy at not 

 having experienced those sensations which seize 

 a sportsman when he loses a hard-won quarry ; 

 in truth, one cannot be artist and sportsman 

 at the same time ! 



Our prize caused us considerable satisfaction ; 

 examination revealed it to be quite as beautiful 

 a specimen as the female barbata I had shot. 

 It measured over seven feet in length, while the 

 male I had shot measured only something over 

 six feet. There were marks of bears' claws on 

 this one also. 



Again I signalled the Belgica to approach. 

 The Commander did so, taking every precaution, 

 for the floe was so small that the slightest shock 

 from the ship's bow would inevitably have 

 smashed it to pieces. It was not merely the 

 fact that we would have been thrown into the 

 sea that concerned me ; the loss of my seal was 

 a far greater consideration. 



Merite asserted that the loss of the seal 

 would have been nothing beside the damage 



