298 



THE SEAL. 



they did not give chase, it seldom remained long in the 

 water, but came back apparently disappointed at being 

 deprived of its sport. When they went to Leith for 

 orders or stores, the seal generally accompanied them, 

 swimming all the way at the side or stern of the boat ; 

 and when the boat was made fast at the pier at Leith, 

 it took up its position inside, and kept watch till they 

 returned. Fish was not its only food ; it could eat 

 many things, and it was very fond of bread and milk. 

 There was no saying how far its training might have 

 been carried, but it fell out of a bed and was killed while 

 young. 



The ease with which the seal can be tamed, the 

 playfulness of its manners, and the steady attachment 

 which it has for its home and its human associates, 

 together with the value of its skin and its oil ; (its flesh 

 used formerly to be eaten, and there is no question, 

 that the quality could be greatly improved, if a mix- 

 ture of other food were given along with the fish ;) 

 these, and also its disposition to part with a portion, 

 at least, of the produce of its fishing, point out a great 

 probability of advantage that would result from the 

 addition of the seal to the list of domestic animals. 

 Probably it might be found to combine many of the 

 valuable qualities of the ox and the dog, while no 

 rent would have to be paid for its pasture. It so 

 happens also, that the places where seals are now 

 most abundant, are those at which the keep of land 

 animals is most expensive; and the idea that the 

 herd should come from the sea to be milked, or give 

 their carcasses as food, or that a man should go forth a 

 fishing with a pack of seals around his boat, involves 



