168 VIKINGS OF TO-DAY 



blubber by their own weight, and being eventually 

 drawn off, clarified, and sold. Now, however, the 

 blubber is usually " rendered" by means of a steam 

 mincer. The skins are salted without being stretched, 

 and are then exported " green," for making into 

 leather for boot tops, gloves, etc. When the white 

 coat is a year old, he is dark in colour on the 

 back, lighter on the belly, and is known as a 

 " bedlamer harp." When he is three years old, a 

 large black saddle-shaped mark begins to appear over 

 his back, and he is called a full " bedlamer." ' When 

 he is four years old, the saddle is fully and clearly 

 marked, and the seal is then known as the " old 

 harp." 



<' Seals, as is well known to those who visit Zoo- 

 logical Gardens, are very easily tamed, and display 

 almost the sagacity of dogs. Tales are told of seals 

 which have become so thoroughly tame that they 

 will come and lie before the fire, making friends with 

 the dog and cat ; while one, when it had been found 

 too expensive to keep, and had been taken out to 

 sea and dropped overboard, followed the boat ashore 

 again and again, even getting in at the window 

 when the door had been shut against it. The seal 

 is used by the Eskimo for nearly everything. The 

 stretched coat of the bowel serves instead of glass. 

 Their boats are entirely of skin. Their clothing 

 almost all skin. Their winter food almost all seal- 

 meat and blubber. Dog food, dog harness, dog whips, 

 etc., are all of seal, or of walrus hide. Moreover, to 



