actions that she was feeding her young. 

 Then he would head straight and swift for 

 the spot and nose all over it till he found 

 what he was seeking. 



When the big bull seals came ashore to 

 bask in the sun, resting on a rock or the 

 edge of an ice-floe whence they could slip 

 instantly into deep water, Matwock invented 

 a new style of still-hunting. He would slip 

 silently far down to leeward — for the seal's 

 nose is almost as keen as his own — 

 and there begin his cautious stalk up-wind. 

 Sinking his enormous weight deep in the 

 water till only his nose and the top of his 

 head appeared, he would glide slowly along 

 the edge of the floe, looking exactly like a 

 bit of loose ice drifting along in the tide. 

 When near the game he would disappear 

 entirely and, like an otter, not a ripple 

 marked the spot where he went down. 



The big seal would be blinking sleepily 

 on the edge of the ice-floe, raising himself 

 on his flippers to stretch like a wolf, or turn- 

 ing leisurely to warm both sides at the sun, 

 when the huge head and shoulders of a bear 



3°9 



Mafwoc/c of 

 ffle Icebergs 



