228 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. xxix. 



late years in building a lighthouse and other works, they very 

 seldom rest on them at present. They were also much fright- 

 ened by a plan for catching them adopted by some of the work- 

 men. Observing that the seals when disturbed tumbled off the 

 rocks in great confusion, two fellows, during low-water, fixed 

 firmly into the rock several strongly barbed iron hooks, with the 

 points turned upwards. This done, the first time that they saw 

 any great assemblage of seals basking on the rock, near their 

 hooks, they got into a boat and rowed quickly up to the place, 

 firing guns and making all the noise that they could. The poor 

 seals, in their hurry to escape, came tumbling over the side of 

 the rocks where the hooks were placed. Several were much torn 

 and wounded, and one was held till the men got up and dis- 

 patched him. This cruel proceeding had the effect of keeping 

 them from the place for a considerable time afterwards. Not- 

 withstanding the great timidity of the seals, they have immense 

 strength in their jaws, and, indeed, great muscular power in 

 every part of their body. A farmer near the coast here, seeing 

 several basking on the sand-banks, and not being possessed of a 

 gun, hit upon what seemed to him the capital plan of selling a 

 strong bulldog at them, hoping that the dog would hold one of 

 them till he could get up and kill it with his spade. The dog 

 reached the seals before they could get into the water, and 

 attacked one of the largest. The seal, however, with a single 

 bite completely smashed the head of the dog, and flinging him 

 to one side, scurried away into the water, leaving the farmer not 

 much inclined to attempt seal-hunting again. 



My man, one day while we were waiting in our ambuscade for 

 the seals, gave me an account of a curious adventure he had with 

 one near the same spot a few years back. 



lie was lying at daybreak ensconced close to the water's 

 edge, waiting in vain for a shot at some grey geese that fre- 

 quented the place at the time, when he saw a prodigiously large 

 seal floating quietly along with the tide, not thirty yards from 

 the shore. Donald did not disturb the animal, but went home 

 early in the day, and, having cast some bullets for his gun and 

 made other preparations, retired to rest. The next morning 

 he was again at the shore, well concealed, and expecting to see 

 the seal pass with the flowing tide ; nor was he disappointed. 



