FLORA AND FAUNA 



as a roof for our granite hut at Cape Geology, and the 

 fur reminded me of that of an ordinary cow. In this 

 position on the roof the hide was comparatively trans- 

 lucent in spite of the covering of fur. The Weddell 

 seal is sluggish and collects in large herds. In October 

 and November especially one may see many hundred 

 seals congregated in favorable places along the tide- 

 cracks and shear-cracks in MacMurdo Sound. 



The Weddell seal is not so frequently attacked by the 

 killer-whale as its cousin, the crab-eater, which lives 

 out on the open pack ice. Like all these animals and 

 birds, it seems quite devoid of fear when on land. At 

 the Cape Roberts rendezvous in January, 191 2, we 

 were rather short of food and there were three seals 

 basking on the ice off the cape. I killed one the first 

 week, the other two, who were only a yard or two away, 

 taking little interest in the gory business. Next week I 

 killed the second seal, and in the third and last week 

 of our enforced wait I killed the third, so that if we 

 could not cross the crevasses of the Wilson Piedmont 

 Glacier and had to return, we might find some food 

 available for the next week or so. 



The Weddell seal is sometimes ten feet long, and 

 has a brownish coat richly marked with black and gray 

 and silvery white. The young are born during the 

 last week of October and the beginning of November. 

 At birth they have a thick and woolly coat of dull 

 ochre, gray and black, which drops off after a fortnight 

 or so. The teeth are sharp and curved to enable it to 

 catch fish and are also used to open holes in the sea- 

 ice. Before I went south I used to wonder how a seal 



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