396 HISTORY OF 



that can be taken, is to shoot tliem : if they chance to escape, 

 they hasten towards the deep, flinging stones and dirt behind 

 them as they scramble along, and at the same time expressing 

 their pain, or their fears, by the most distressful cry ; if they 

 happen to be overtaken, they make a vigorous resistance with 

 their feet and teeth, till they are killed. 



The seal is taken for the sake of its skin, and for the oil its 

 fat yields. The former sells for about four shillings ; and, when 

 di'essed, is very useful in covering trunks, making waistcoats, 

 shot-pouehes, and several other conveniences. The flesh of this 

 animal formerly found place at the tables of the great. At a feast 

 provided by Archbishop Neville, for Edward the Fourth, there 

 were twelve seals and porpoises provided, among other extraor- 

 dinary rarities. 



As a variety of this animal, we may mention the sea-lion, 

 described in Anson's Voyages. This is much larger than any 

 of the former ; being from eleven to eighteen feet long. It is 

 so fat, that when the skin is taken off, the blubber lies a foot 

 thick all round the body. It seems to differ from the ordinary 

 seal, not only in its size, but also in its food ; for it is often seen 

 to graze along the shore, and to feed upon the long grass that 

 grows up along the edges of brooks. Its cry is very various, 

 sometimes resembling the neighing of a horse, and sometimes 

 the grunting of a hog. It may be regarded as the largest of the 

 seal family. 



THE MORSE. 



The Morse is an animal of the seal kind ; but differing from 

 the rest, in a veiy particular formation of the teeth, having two 

 large tusks growing from the upper jaw, shaped like those of an 

 elephant, but directed downwards ; whereas, in the elephant they 

 grow upright, like horns ; it also wants the cutting teeth, both 

 above and below : as to the rest, it pretty much resembles a seal, 

 except that it is much larger, being from twelve to sixteen feet 

 long. The morses are also generally seen to frequent the same 

 places that se.ils are known to reside in ; they have the same 

 habitudes, the same advantages, and the same imperfections. 

 There are, however, fewer varieties of the morse than the seal ; 

 and they are rarely found, except in the frozen regions near the 



