AND THE WALRUS 



alarming one. In avoiding one ice-lump the boat perhaps 

 pulls between two others ; if she is going with the current, 

 well and good ; she is through before the blocks can 

 possibly meet ; but often the current is awry and broken, 

 and as she passes between the hummocks she finds herself 

 penned right and left by ice, and in front by a force of 

 water that she can ill battle against ; the hummocks bear 

 down upon her and she is cracked like a nut. If possible 

 the crew will scramble on to one or other of the blocks 

 and it may be well with them ; but the hummock may 

 float away, carrying them out of reach of their com- 

 panions, to be eventually drowned or starved. 



Round about the Baltic, and in parts of North 

 America, and sometimes in Scotland, the breeding season 

 among the animals is taken advantage of by the fisher- 

 men, for then the seals are on land and can, with care, be 

 taken a whole colony at a time, and shot or clubbed. 

 The seal, be it remembered, is one of the most intelligent 

 beings in existence, and all its acts and movements are 

 undertaken with method and system. In summer the 

 males, or bulls, come ashore and seek out convenient 

 homes for the females ; these will not arrive till nearly a 

 month later. The bulls which come first naturally are 

 able to choose the best positions in caves, if possible ; 

 if not, in well-sheltered spots among the rocks. Late 

 comers must take their chance ; they will try to take 

 someone else^s pitch, and a fight, sometimes to the 

 death, will be the result. Even the fighting is done on 

 systematic lines. Two bulls approach each other, each one 

 pretending to be interested in something that is going on 

 u 305 



