194 HUNTERS AND HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



club. Further, when wounded and incapable 

 of flight, it sometimes becomes dangerous and 

 inflicts serious bites. When the animal has 

 been killed, its hood, no longer being inflated, 

 sags downwards, becoming a limp mass of bkck 

 and flaccid skin. In fine, it is a nightmare 

 animal of the sea. 



During my expedition of 1909 I did not kill 

 a single adult hooded seal, but from the deck 

 of the Belgica, and from the boat, I shot thirty 

 young ones of this species. 



When young, it is attractive rather than 

 repulsive, its colour being uniformly iron grey, 

 darkening slightly over the back. Its face is 

 black, lit up by intelligent eyes, and as yet there 

 is no sign of the malformation which in the 

 future is to render it so repulsive. They are 

 very agile, not at all timid, and when their skin 

 is dry they wait until the very last moment 

 before diving. 



The ones I killed were about two years old, 

 and measured from three to four feet in length, 

 in one or two instances even more. Of all seals, 

 this one undoubtedly is the most intelligent. 



The Greenland seals are to be found in the 

 Barentz, as well as in the Greenland seas. They 

 are gregarious, and congregate in great numbers, 

 sometimes swimming from one region to another, 



