THE COMMON SEAL. ISQ 



terrestrial quadrupeds, which are extremely terrified 

 on such occasions. — ^The voice of a full-grown Seal 

 is hoarse, and not unlike the barking of a Dog : that 

 of the young resembles in some measure the mewing 

 of a Kitten. 



The female Seals bring forth two young ones or 

 more at a birth. These they deposit, even as soon 

 as produced, in the cavities of the ice ; and the male 

 makes a hole through the ice near them, for a 

 speedy communication with the water. Into this 

 they always plunge with their young the moment 

 they observe a hunter approach ; and at other times 

 they descend into it spontaneously in search of 

 food. The manner in which the male Seals make 

 these holes is astonishing : neither their teeth nor 

 their paws have any share in the operation ; it is per- 

 formed solely by their breath *. When the females 

 come out of the sea, they bleat like sheep for their 

 young ; and though they of en pass through hun- 

 dreds of other young ones before they come to their 

 own, yet they will never suffer any of the strangers 

 to suck-f^. About a fortnight after their birth, the 

 young are taken out to sea, and instructed in swim- 

 ming and seeking. their food : when they are facigued, 

 the parent is said to carry thein on her back %. The 

 Seal hunters in Caithnes assured Mr. Pennant that 

 their growth v,'as so rapid, that in nine tides (about 

 fifty-four hours) after their birth, they become as 

 active as their parents. And it is generally under- 

 stood that a Seal six weeks old, will sometimes yield 

 about eight gallons of oil ; a quantity much greater 



•■* Acerbi, i. !{;7. t Dampier, i, SQ. J Sh^w, i. 253. 



