173 COMMON SEAL. Class h 



pesses, formerly found a place at the tables of 

 the great, as appears from the bill of fare of 

 that vast feast that archbishop Nevill gave in 

 the reign of Edxvard IV. in which is seen, 

 that several were provided on the occasion.* 

 They couple about April, on large rocks, or 

 small islands, not remote from the shore, and 

 bring forth in those vast caverns that are fre- 

 quent on our coasts ; they commonly produce 

 two at a time, which in tlieir infant state are 

 covered with a whitish down, or woolly sub- 

 stance. The seal-hunters in Cathness have as- 

 sured me that their growth is so sudden, that 

 in nine tides from their birth (fifty-four hours) 

 they will become as active as their parents. 

 On the coast of that county are immense ca- 

 verns opening into the sea, and running some 

 hundreds of yards beneath the land. These are 

 the resort of seals in the breeding time, where 

 they continue till their young are old enough to 

 go to sea, which is in about six or seven weeks. 

 The first of these caves is near the Ord, the last 

 near Thrumster ; their entrance so narrow, as 

 only to admit a boat ; their inside very spatious 

 and lofty. In the month of October, or the be- 

 ginning of Nommber, the seal-hunters enter the 



• , • : * Leland's Collectanea- ■.. 



