268 HUNTERS OF THE GREAT NORTH 



white, but have never succeeded except when I have been 

 able to shield myself behind some cover. 



So long as you are more than three hundred yards 

 away from the seal you need not be careful. He might 

 see you at four hundred yards if you were upright, but 

 you should begin crawling somewhat before the four 

 hundred-yard mark is reached. I crawl ahead on all 

 fours while he is asleep, and when he wakes up I drop 

 flat instantly and remain motionless until he goes to sleep 

 again. This sort of approach will do until you are about 

 three hundred yards away, but after that you must be 

 more careful for he now may see you at any time. 



When I felt myself well within the seal's range of 

 vision, I began to crawl ahead seal-fashion, which prac- 

 tically means snake-fashion. I moved as rapidly as I 

 could while he slept and I stopped motionless while he 

 was awake until finally, at a distance of 175 yards, he 

 saw me. 



It was easy to tell when the seal first saw me. He 

 stiffened up suddenly, lifted his head a little higher than 

 ordinary and crawled a foot or two nearer his water hole 

 so as to be able to dive instantly if necessary. Being 

 now in what he thought a safe position himself and con- 

 sidering me so far away that there was no immediate 

 danger, he watched me carefully. Had I remained 

 motionless for two or three minutes, he would have be- 

 come restive, and in a few minutes more he would have 

 dived into his hole, for he knew very well that no real 

 seal would remain motionless for long. Accordingly, I 

 waited until he had been watching me about half a 

 minute, which is the av( , ' 1 >ing spell of a seal. I 



then did my best to act like a seal waking up. I lifted 

 my head about eighi iches above the ice, looked 



