EARED-SEALS. 507 



their former selves, for besides being covered witli wounds, they 

 are abject and spiritless, and laboriously crawl back to the ocean, 

 there to renew a fresh lease of life. 



" Such physical endurance," writes Mr. Blhott, " is remarkable 

 enough alone, but is simply wonderful when we come to associate 

 this fasting with the increasing activity, restlessness, and duty 

 devolved upon the bulls as the heads of large families. They do 

 not stagnate, like hibernating bears, in caves ; there is not one 

 torpid breath drawn by them in the whole period of their fast ; it 

 is evidently sustained and accomplished by the self-absorption 

 of their own fat, with which they are so liberally supplied when 

 they first come out from the sea and take up their positions on 

 the breeding-grounds, and which gradually disappears, until 

 nothing but the staring hide, protruding tendons and bones mark 

 the limit of their abstinence. There must be some remarkable 

 provision made by nature for the entire torpidity of the seal's 

 stomach and bowels, in consequence of their being empty and 

 unsupplied during this long period, coupled with the intense 

 activity and physical energy of the animals throughout that time, 

 which, however, in spite of the violation of a supposed physio- 

 logical law, does not seem to affect them, for they come back just 

 as sleek, fat, and ambitious as ever in the following season." 



The natives of these islands, or those engaged in the trade, 

 procure their supply of skins by getting between the sea and the 

 " bachelor " seals, and driving them inland, which is easy work, 

 for the poor creatures are of a timid disposition, and when they 

 find their retreat to the sea cut off, they instinctively turn and 

 scramble rapidly back up and over the land. The natives leisurely 

 walk on the flanks of the drove they have thus secured, and 

 keeping the seals on the move, drive them to the flats selected for 

 the scene of slaughter. 



The actual killing is done by knocking the animals on the head 

 with a club or stout oaken or hickory bludgeon, specially con- 

 structed for the purpose. The men accustomed to the work are 

 adepts at it, and, consequently, the individuals are killed, as a rule, 

 with a single blow, and without suffering, for it is only occasionally 

 that a second stroke is required. " The aim and force with which 



