200 



SLAUGHTERING A HEED OF SEALS. 



one or two others, while the remainder of the crew, sometimes sixty or 

 seventy, or even more in number, get into boats and row swiftly to the 

 floe. The young seals are scattered about here and there, basking in the 

 sun or sheltered under the lee of a hummock, and they lie so thickly that 

 half a dozen will often be seen in a space twenty yards square. They 

 cannot get away, or at most can only flounder about, and their plaintive 

 bleatings and white coats might almost be those of lambs. The old seals 

 are frightened away by the approach of the sailors, and never show fight, 

 while the youngsters are easily killed ; so the men do not take guns, but 

 only clubs, with which they strike the poor little fellows a single blow 

 on the head, usually killing them at once. 



DRAGGING BUNDLES OP PELTS. 



Having struck down all they can see within a short distance, the small 

 squad of men who work together quickly skin, or (as they call it) " sculp " 

 their victims with a broad clasp-knife, cutting clear through the thick 

 layer of fat which lies underneath the hide, and so leaving a surprisingly 



