VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN. 77 



in flight ; but I have sometimes seen them throw 

 back stones and pieces of ice on the sailors who pur- 

 sued them. 



Seals delight to lie upon the ice, or on the shore, 

 exposed to the sun*; they there sleep very pro- 

 foundly, and' fall an easy prey to the sailors, who 

 dispatch them by a blow on the nose. 



Their voice has been not unaptly compared by 

 Buffbn to the barking of a hoarse dog ; when at- 

 tacked, they make a more doleful kind of noise. 



Pliny expressly states this animal to be of a do- 

 cile and tractable nature, and in this he is sup- 

 ported by the more enlarged experience of mo- 

 dern times. The seal described by Dr. Parsons -f* 

 was taught to come out of his tub, and return to 

 the water at the command of its keeper, to stretch 

 out its neck to kiss him, and to perform several 

 other motions. 



Seals have a very delicate sense of hearing, and 

 are very much delighted with music. The Cap- 

 tain's son, who was a good performer on the violin, 

 never failed to have a numerous auditory, when •we 

 were in the seas frequented by those animals ; and 

 I have seen them follow the ship for miles when any 

 person was playing on deck. This fact was observed 



* Sternunt se somno diversw in lilt&re Phocce. Georg. lib. 4. 

 -fr Pennant's Quadrupeds, vol. ii. p. 272. 



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