194 FLESH-EATERS OF THE SEA 



easily tamed, and becoming very fond of a kind master. 

 There are several instances known where the Seal became 

 so much attached to the fishermen that it spent the greater 

 part of its time on the shore, and even in the house, only 

 going into the sea for the purpose of obtaining food. It 

 would accompany the boat and return with the fishermen 

 after the voyage. 



A Seal that was captured in Clew Bay showed tameness 

 to a remarkable degree for a period of four years. Three 



HIND FLIPPERS OF THE SEAL. 

 A. Open. B. Closed. 



times it was taken out to sea and set free, but upon each 

 occasion it returned to its foster home. To test the Seal 

 still further, it was blinded and again set in the ocean many 

 miles from Clew Bay. At the end of eight days it again 

 waddled ashore, as if to prove that the brute beast was 

 in some respects, at least, superior to the inhuman beings, 

 who had so cruelly used it in the satisfaction of a brutal 

 curiosity. 



Of other species of the genus Phoca may be mentioned 



