68 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



received the bullet. I shot one last autumn at the 

 mouth of the river, and a fortnight afterwards he was 

 taken up in the neighbourhood of Dhuhill. There 

 could be no doubt as to the identity of the creature, 

 for on opening him to extract the oil, a rifle ball, such as 

 I use, of the unusually small size of fifty-four to the 

 pound, was found lodged in his lungs. Unless when 

 killed outright, they sink instantly ; and I have seen the 

 sea dyed with blood, to an extent that proved how 

 severely the seal had been wounded, but have never 

 been able to trace him further. 



" Formerly, when seal oil and skins were valuable, 

 some persons on the coast made the pursuit of the 

 animal a profession. There is one of these persons 

 living near the Sound, a miserable, dwarfish, red-bearded 

 wretch, whom you would consider hardly equal to 

 grapple with a salmon, and yet he secures more seals 

 than any hunter in the district. His method of effecting 

 it is singular : he uses neither gun nor spear, but kills 

 the animal with a short bludgeon loaded at the end 

 with lead. 



" Adjacent to the seal-killer's residence there is a 

 large rock uncovered at half-tide, and this appears the 

 most favourite haunt for the animal to bask upon. The 

 rock is easily approached from the main-land, and on a 

 sunny day, when the wind favours the attempt, the 

 hunter, undressed, and armed with his bludgeon, 

 silently winds among the stones, and steals upon his 

 sleeping prey. Wary as the creature is, the Red Dwarf 

 seldom fails in surprising him, and with astonishing 

 expertness, generally dispatches him with a single blow. 



" The number he kills annually proves his extra- 

 ordinary success. If the first blow fails, an event that 



