18 NATURAL HISTORY [Quadrupeds. 



ed into oil, which sells well, and with profit to the merchant. 

 The skins are pinned to the walls of houses till dry, and are 

 then sold to the trunkmakers and others, for eightpence or 

 one shilling a-piece, small and great. 



The young and smaller seals yield the most oil ; the largest 

 are good for little, except the skin ; indeed, our seal-catchers 

 seldom care for killing the old ones, where they can have the 

 others. 



Our tanners dress the seal's skin both for shoes and breeches, 

 but they do not answer very well for the former, being soft 

 and spongy ; when properly managed do well for breeches. 

 They are likewise dressed with the hair on, for saddle-covers, 

 and I have seen very beautiful ones made into waistcoats. 



Seals seem to be subject to a plague, or murrain. About 

 four years ago they drove ashore round our coasts in scores ; 

 likewise in Caithness many of them were found dead. They 

 were observed to cough much, niake a sort of plaintive noise, 

 and when they died and drove ashore were much swelled, 

 and appeared as if very fat, but when cut up were nothing 

 but skin and bone. 



The places where seals abound most in Orkney are, the 

 Skerries of Hoy, North Ronaldsha, and others of the north 

 isles ; the Barrel of Butter, Pightland Skerries, and several 

 other holms of the south division of the islands ; but they are 

 to be found round all the flatter coasts, and the caverns of the 

 sea. 



