74 HAPPY HUNTING-GROUNDS 



disturbed plenty of specimens of the common seal. At 

 last our host pointed to a long low object lying on a 

 rock not more than thirty yards from us, well in view. 

 It was motionless, and its fur looked ruffled and staring ; 

 and when Sir John said to his companion, " There is 

 something for you to photograph," Colonel Pearson 

 replied with a laugh, " Yes, I dare say ! any one can 

 see that that beast has been dead at least three weeks." 

 Sir John smiled and gave a shrill whistle, and the 

 supposed corpse, galvanised into life at the sound, 

 floundered into the water, leaving behind a little newly- 

 born cub, not too young to show temper by snarling 

 and spitting when approached. The young do not 

 take to the water for about three weeks after birth, 

 and one that either by accident or intentionally slipped 

 in when we came close up to it, did not seem at all 

 comfortable in its movements, so we left it to the care 

 of its parents, the old bull and cow which were swim- 

 ming close at hand in evident anxiety. The bull is 

 larger than the cow ; one very fine specimen, the head 

 and skin of which was preserved at Killoran House, was 

 said to have weighed forty-four stone. It is difficult to 

 judge the exact weight of any animal when in the 

 water, but some of those I saw quite close at hand when 

 they were anxious about their babies looked enormous. 

 Ordinary seals, which measure some five feet or more 

 from nose to flipper, and weigh up to fourteen stone, 

 looked mere pigmies when near them. 



During my two seasons in Colonsay I never myself 

 drew trigger at a seal, but there was one occasion 

 upon which I must plead guilty to having instigated, 

 aided and abetted, the killing of a specimen. I had 

 noticed that the stuffed examples in the National 



