SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



with both flippers. This, however, seems not 

 to be the case, for when a herd is disturbed 

 hy an approaching boat, all, young and old, 

 shuffle down into the water on their bellies, 

 using their fore feet as best they maj. Fright 

 makes them forget any special tricks of loco- 

 motion they may have developed, and causes 

 them to return as far as possible to the an- 

 cestral quadrupedal method. In this case, 

 however, it is a bipedal locomotion, for the 

 fore feet lift up and drag the body, including 

 the hind feet, which, although doing all the 

 work in the water, are nearly helpless on land. 

 In repose the seals assume various posi- 

 tions. The least common is the one in which 

 thej^ are almost invariably depicted, namely 

 flat on their bellies with a fore-flipper on each 

 side. It is much more common for them to 

 lie on one or the other side with flippers ar- 

 ranged diagonally across their chests, as just 

 described, and occasional!}^ they lie flat on 

 their backs. Not infrequently a seal reclines 

 in what might be called a Madame Recamier 

 position,— on the side with head and neck 

 stretching diagonally upwards. Some touch 

 the sand for their whole length whether they 

 are lying on their bellies, their sides, or their 



166 



