SEALS 193 



the end. It measured almost seven feet from 

 the nose to the tips of its hind fins. I had it 

 skinned, and was surprised at the quantity of 

 black blood which escaped from it ; the cold 

 air caused its stripped muscles to contract as 

 though it were still alive. 



The blue seal shares the ice-field with the 

 hooded seal. The head of the adult male of 

 the latter species is hideous, but altogether 

 it is less repugnant than the blue seal, possessing 

 at least the form of an animal. This species 

 is widely scattered over the Greenland ice-fields, 

 where one finds them singly or in couples, but 

 never in groups. 



Few old males are to be met with. Neverthe- 

 less, I have killed several, the largest of which 

 measured almost ten feet, a quite remarkable 

 length even for these animals. Its skin was 

 very beautiful, being covered with black and 

 white spots, but its head, with the glaucous, slit 

 eyes, was horrible. 



The hooded seal is so called because a small 

 black bladder surmounts its head which, when 

 the animal is angered, expands and assumes 

 the shape of a mitre. It is for this reason called 

 Cystophora cristata. In the male this bladder 

 is used for defensive purposes, rendering it 

 impossible for a man to kill the animal with a 



