80 AUTUMNS IN ARGYLESHIRE 



water invariably sinks. The experience I have 

 just stated is one instance to the contrary ; but I 

 should hesitate to dogmatise from a single case, 

 although I think that others, and those often the 

 most positive, are not always equally cautious. I 

 am convinced that it is impossible to lay down any 

 definite rule. I have known a shot seal to sink 

 immediately. I have known one to float for some 

 time and to go down gradually, just disappearing 

 below the surface as the boat got within an oar's 

 length of him ; while others have floated for half- 

 an-hour or more, like logs, and have gradually 

 been driven ashore by the wind or tide. I am 

 quite unable to account for the difference. It 

 cannot be the situation or nature of the wound, as 

 it is next to impossible to hit a seal in the water 

 anywhere but in the head, which is the only part 

 exposed. My opinion, for what it is worth, is 

 that it depends upon the condition of the animal's 

 lungs whether or not they happen at the time to 

 be sufficiently filled with air to float him ; but it is 

 always uncertain, and by far the most satisfactory 

 mode of getting a seal is to shoot him on a rock, 

 or else in sufficiently shallow water to make it easy 

 to recover him even in the event of his sinking. 



Of course the most exciting sport with seals, 

 as with all other game when it is possible, is a 

 legitimate stalk. To spy your beast from a dis- 

 tance, to make a long detour, making due allow- 

 ance for wind, approach under cover of rock or 



