Attempt to Surprise a Seal. 135 



brought out in the ship, excepting birds ; the flesh 

 of bears and seals is utterly discarded. This even- 

 ing at tea we induced the steward to give us a por- 

 tion of the narwhal's tail, which, boiled and steeped 

 in vinegar, we found very palatable. 



During the afternoon, seeing a large ground seal 

 lying on the floe, I shouldered my rifle and at- 

 tempted to stalk it, imitating as well as I was able, 

 after the manner of the Esquimaux, the movements 

 of the seal itself, crawling along the ice on my 

 stomach, and rolling my head about in a most un- 

 comfortable manner, but consoling myself all the 

 time for my very unpleasant mode of progression 

 with the idea that I was doing the correct thing. 

 My artifices, however, must have been very shallow 

 and easily detected by my would-be prey, who dis- 

 appeared in the water before I was within eighty 

 yards. I was not sorry to get back to the ship, as 

 the ice was cracking in a far from pleasant way at 

 every step I took. If I had fallen through nothing 

 could have saved me, as the strong current would 

 quickly have carried me under the ice, before any 

 assistance could have reached me. 



Thursday, June 19th. — This forenoon a boat was 

 lowered after a narwhal in which I again officiated 

 as boat-steerer, having Davy Smith as harpooneer. 

 The " unie " was apparently frightened away, for 

 we never saw it after leaving the ship. Whilst 

 laying on our oars watching for it to rise, one of 



