THE ORDINARY SEALS. 



277 



from every portion of the animal's body. But we 

 also value highly the sleek, beautiful, waterproof 

 fur, and esteem the fat and even the flesh. It is not 

 surprising, therefore, that the Seals are most eagerly 

 hunted in all oceans. Hunt and capture are nearly 

 synonymous in this case, for fire-arms are used but 

 rarely and never on the high sea, for a Seal when 

 killed goes to the bottom like a piece of lead. It is 

 different in particularly favored haunts of the ani- 

 mals on the beach. On the eastern coast of the 

 island of Rugen there is, as Schilling says, a heap 

 of rocks, several hundred paces distant from the 

 extreme point of the high promontory, and at the 

 ordinary height of the water these rocks project 

 over three feet above sea-level. Frequently from 

 forty to fifty Seals lie on them, but they are too 

 prudent to let a boat approach them. 



On the Swedish coast of the Baltic the hunt is 

 followed more regularly and frequently, usually with 

 harpoons only, or more rarely with guns. Some 

 Swedish hunters train Dogs to track the Seals on 

 the ice and keep them busy until their owners arrive. 

 On the Faroe Isles the Seals are mainly hunted dur- 

 ing the time they spend on shore with their young. 



Among all peoples the Greenlanders seem to be 

 those who not only know how to hunt Seals most 

 successfully, but also how to put the animals to the 

 most manifold uses. "The Greenlanders," says 

 Fabricius, " are great masters of the art of plying 

 their oars easily and neatly, so that one hardly hears 

 a sound. If a Seal rises up in sight the Greenlander 

 watches its actions, in order to proceed with his 

 attack according to its movements. As soon as he 

 has satisfied himself in regard to the whereabouts of 



V 



v^y- '^''^ i 



iff'^ 



THE SEA LEOPARD, This animal forms a distinct group of the Ordinary Seals, and is widely distributed in the antarctic and south- 



■ern temperate seas, and frequents the coasts of Australia, New Zealand and the islands of the southern Pacific. The large males attain a length 

 of twelve feet. The ground color is a silver gray, and yellowish or brown spots are distributed over the body. (Stenorhynchus leptonyx.) 



tSethodaof Schilling says that one may some- 

 Hunting the times succeed in shooting Seals 

 Seals. which are seen from a ship, if one 



with a little sail boat noiselessly sails up to the 

 sleeping animals, keeping half to leeward. During 

 a prolonged frost a hunt on the ice may also yield 

 good results, but it is never sure to do so, and is 

 always fraught with danger. When the Baltic is 

 frozen over, the Seals keep artificial holes in the ice 

 open, in order to reach the outer air, and to creep 

 through on to the ice, where they sleep. Every Seal 

 usually forms such an aperture for itself, and some- 

 times has several for its own personal use. To 

 these holes a Man creeps up at night, in felt shoes 

 so as to deaden the noise of his steps, but he must 

 pay careful attention to the weather and wind and 

 he constantly on his guard. 



the Seal, he strives with all means at command to 

 approach it as near as possible, in order not to miss 

 it. The point he must pay most attention to is that 

 neither the movement of the oars nor the darting 

 forward of the boat shall cause any great noise; for 

 this would disturb the repose of the Seal. Not a 

 little dexterity and practice are required for this 

 softened movement, which is accomplished partly 

 by long, deep strokes of the oars, partly by propell- 

 ing the boat with movements of the hand and body, 

 and some are such experts that they can get the 

 boat alongside the Seal without attracting its atten- 

 tion. But if it should happen to be one of the cau- 

 tious kind which is always alert, the obstacles in the 

 way are greater; yet the hunter does not give up all 

 hope, but watches it dive and then hurries along. 

 But if its head is above water, he keeps quiet, stoops 



