A DAY WITH A SEAL 97 



with his head^held low and hidden behind the 

 line of his broad back. However, better no seal 

 at all than a bad one, so I must wait until he 

 raises his head. This he seems inclined to take 

 his time about, though while I was stalking he 

 seemed ready enough to have obliged me in 

 this respect had I wished it. At last, however, 

 three parts of a small circle rise above the line 

 of his back, and, aiming carefully, I squeeze the 

 trigger. 



Crack ! splash ! splash ! the water round the 

 rock is disturbed, and four seals have vanished, 

 but my friend has resumed his old position with 

 his head hidden from view, and will not move 

 again. 



" Accoutred as I was," except for my coat, of 

 which I have hastily divested myself, I dash 

 into the sea and swim across, while my sister 

 comes from her hiding-place towards the scene, 

 as far as it is possible to pick a comparatively 

 dry way. 



But, alas ! the disasters of the day are only 

 now about to begin. As soon as, grasping the 

 seal by the hind-flippers, I have dragged it out 

 of my depth, it sinks by the head, and my 

 swimming powers, though sufficient as I know 

 to have dragged the dead beast lengthwise over 

 the sea, are not equal to overcoming the resist- 

 ance offered to the water by the whole of the 

 body, particularly as that resistance acts only on 



G 



