R. BROWN ON THE SEALS OF GREENLAND. 65 



regions are of the same dark-grey or tarnished-silvery hue which 

 has been described in the P. grcenlandicus. 



Habits, Sfc. — The Bladdernose is not only one of the largest, but 

 the fiercest of the northern Seals ; and, as its capture requires some 

 skill, it is only the most expert kayakcr that can procure any. 

 It will chase a man and bite him, besides making a great com- 

 motion in the water. Therefore the hunt is very dangerous to a 

 man in such a frail craft as the Greenland kayak ; but as long as 

 the memory of the oldest inhabitant of South Greenland extends, 

 only one man in the district of Julianshaab (where they are chiefly 

 captured) has been killed by the bite of the Klapmyds, thougli 

 not unfrequently the harpoon and line have been broken. The 

 hunting is not so dangerous, however, within late years, as it has 

 been effected by the rifle from the ice ; but when the Seal has 

 not been killed outright, the hunter goes out in his kayak and 

 despatches it with the lance. Like all Seals, during the rutting- 

 time, there are great battles on the ice between the males ; and the 

 roaring is said to be sometimes so loud that it can be heard four 

 miles off". The skin is often full of scratches from these fights. 



With regard to the favourite localities of this species of Seal, 

 Cranz and the much more accurate Fabricius disagree — the former 

 affirming that they are found mostly on great ice islands where they 

 sleep in an unguarded manner, while the latter states that they 

 delight in the high seas, visiting the land in April, May, and June. 

 This appears contradictory and confusing ; but in reality both 

 authors are right, thougli not in an exclusive sense. The hood 

 appears to be an organ of defence from any stunning blow on the 

 nose, the most vulnerable part in a Seal. It only inflates this 

 bladder when irritated. The sailors look upon it as a reservoir of 

 air when under the water.* The story which Fabricius relates 

 about its " shedding tears abundantly " when surprised by the 

 hunter is, I suspect, only an Eskimo tale of wonder. I could find 

 no one credulous enough to believe it ; nor during the whole time 

 I passed among the Seal-hunters of the far north did I find anyone 

 esteem my credulity great enough to venture any such story on 

 me. 



It is affirmed, curiously enough, that the Bladdernose and the 

 Saddleback are rarely or ever found together ; they are said to 

 disagree. At all events the latter is generally found on the inside 

 of the pack, while the former is on the outside. The latter is also 

 much more common than the Bladdernose, 



Procreation and Young. — At first the young Bladdernose is pure 

 white : during the first year, as it grows older and increases in 

 size, a grey tinge appears, and gradually it assumes a deeper and 



* Mr. J. Walker, then master of the screw-steamer " Wildfire " (now of 

 the "Erik"), and one of the most intelligent of the whaling captains, assured 

 me (June 1861), from his own observation, that this Seal lies frequently on 

 the top of elevated pieces of ice, and that the use of this hood, or " bladder," 

 appears to be to raise it up with sufl5cieut momentum to the surface (by filling 

 it with air) so as to spring again on to the ice. 



36122. E 



