SEALS AND SEAL-HUNTING. 121 



firmly together, and tied a ling hook to the point, 

 and thus extemporised a capital gaff. We found the 

 water not more than twelve or fourteen feet deep, and 

 quite clear. I knew the exact spot where the seal 

 had sunk, so we soon discovered him lying on the 

 bottom, seeming not much larger than a good-sized 

 cod, owing, I suppose, to refraction. I speedily gaffed 

 him and brought him to the surface. He proved to 

 be a splendid animal, five feet nine inches in length, 

 and very fat. The skin, a particularly fine one, I 

 presented to my English friend ; and the blubber was 

 converted into oil, which kept our dining-room lamp 

 burning brightly during many long nights of the suc- 

 ceeding winter. 



