Selous: Observations on the Grey Seal. 283 
of the other one’s actions certainly suggests that I saw it 
plainly too, the evidence is, I think, fairly good that the same 
mother suckled this pair of young Seals. Several times before 
this, whilst watching in the shed, a grown Seal had appeared 
off the rocks where the larger calf was lying, and once, particu- 
larly, seemed several times on the point of entering the little 
cove or channel running up to the point from which they were 
ascendable. This Seal did not look big enough for a male, 
and seemed to me to have a shyer manner than the one that 
was undoubtedly the mother of the newly-born calf,* and it 
always went away without landing. At that time the respect- 
ive calves were well separated, but now the elder had travelled 
down towards the younger one, and the two were near each 
other. My idea is that the shed and humanity, combined, kept 
the mother of the earlier born calf from discharging her duties 
towards it, either wholly or in part, that the latter, either by 
chance or design, worked its way down to the younger one, 
whose mother then charitably suckled them both. 
The last mentioned suckling was the same interesting sight 
as it has always been, but there was no new feature to recount. 
As once before, it took place half on the rock and half in the 
sea. During the interval between this and the last one, whilst 
the mother hung about outside the little cove, as one may 
almost call it when the tide is in (as now) the baby Seal had 
swum and disported there, thoroughly enjoying itself, and now, 
after the feeding, there was the pretty sight of mother and 
child swimming and playing about in it together, the little 
one now pressing to its mother, then swimming a little way 
away from her, returning and pressing ap to her again—and 
this went on for a considerable time. Often the young one 
would get upon the mother’s back, as she swam, or perhaps I 
should rather say would lie upon it, for this seemed to me more 
an effect of its pressing, and her sinking herself a little, than to 
represent an actual purpose on the part of both or either. 
Whether premeditated or not, however, the calf was sometimes 
there lengthwise for a minute or two. The calf would often 
roll on its back in the water, and flick up with one of its 
flippers, in, to all appearance, frolicsome mood, which struck 
me as remarkable in a thing so young. It was a sweet and 
lovely sight. 
OCTOBER 18TH.—Having left the island yesterday, without 
anything further to enter, I returned to it to-day, in company 
with King and Heatherley. Whilst the latter were occupied in 
photography I peeped about behind the ridgeway of that part 
* On her first suckling it she bore the plainest marks of recent par- 
turition, which only went by degrees. 
1915 Sept. 1. 
