AND THE WALRUS 



Another large animal of this neighbourhood is the 

 Capuchin or hooded seal, eight feet long, and possessed 

 of a peculiar hood-like organ above its head which it can 

 bring down at will over its nose. Its bite is as undesirable 

 as that of a mastiff, and it barks remarkably like one ; 

 varying the bark by a long, wailing whine when attacked. 

 It will come further south than the Greenland seal, and is 

 pursued by the North American sealers as well as by the 

 Eskimos. Most of the skins sold in England come from 

 this animal. Another peculiarity that it has is the power 

 of distending its nostrils when diving, till they look like 

 two great bladders or pouches ; and it can remain under 

 water longer than the other varieties. The Capuchin 

 must not be confused with the Monk-seal, or pelagius ; 

 this inhabits the coasts of Sardinia and the Adriatic, 

 and is said to be the special phocaena whose skin the 

 Romans regarded as a protection against a lightning- 

 stroke ; Augustus Caesar is supposed to have carried such 

 a skin with him wherever he went. 



The Russians, though insignificant in a general way as 

 fishermen, are clever and energetic sealers, but they cling 

 for the most part to old-fashioned methods. In pursuing 

 the Greenland seal they build high wooden towers, from 

 which watchmen posted there can tell the numbers and 

 movements of a body of seals; and the fishermen act 

 "upon information received." Dragging small boats 

 over the ice, they pursue the seals to the water ; though 

 many hunters prefer to dress themselves in long white 

 smock-frocks which will prevent their being distinguished 

 from the background of snow, and enable them to shoot 



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