10 NEW LAND. 



from the deck of the ' Fram ' as we steamed past, but as we were 

 hauling it on board the rope snapped, and it sank to the bottom 

 before our very eyes. The flesh of most kinds of seals, especially 

 that of the young animals, is excellent in taste, so that it was hardly 

 with blessings that we watched the animal sink to its grave. Soon 

 afterwards, I fired at a large bladder-nose, which was sunning itself 

 on a floe without noticing the vessel which passed quite near to it. 

 It made an attempt to dive, but a wild yell from the Tram' stopped 

 it in the act ; we then put another bullet into it, and tried a still 

 worse yell ; but, notwithstanding, it dived into the water and we 

 thought it had escaped. To the astonishment of everybody, it 

 came up again and scrambled on to the foot of a floe close by, and 

 there received its quietus. 



The bladder-nose seal (Cystophora cristata), the ' klapmyts ' of 

 the Norwegian sealers, is a large animal. It is as much as two men 

 can do to haul one across the ice, so that they must weigh from 

 four to six hundredweight. It is by far the most agile of all the 

 different kinds of seal ; and as a proof of its immense power, 

 I may mention that it can jump out of the water, right over a 

 boat, and up on to a floe, the edge of which is as much as six 

 feet from the surface. The male bladder-nose varies from nine 

 to ten feet in length ; when roused it is a ferocious animal, and 

 astonishingly quick in its movements. This the Eskimo know to 

 their cost when attempting to capture it, for frequently it cap- 

 sizes their kayaks, in which it bites a hole, and thus causes them 

 to founder. It has received its name from the enormous bladder, 

 situated on the nose, which it can distend to great size, and it 

 usually does so when it is provoked or must defend itself. This 

 hood or bladder has such an extraordinary power of resistance 

 that a blow from an ordinary seal-hook does not injure it in the 

 least, even when wielded by the brawniest arm. 



The bladder-nose, unlike others of its kind, does not keep to the 

 banks, but is to be found far out at sea. It is fond of sunshine, 

 and takes to the water in rainy weather; during the moulting- 

 season it seldom leaves its floe, particularly after it has lain there 

 so long that its coat has become dry. With regard to its need 

 for sunshine, it is possible that this may have something to do 



