100 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



for instance, three or four thick, foggy days seem to call them oat from the water by hundreds of 

 thousands upon the diflerent hauling- grounds (which the reader observes recorded on my map). 

 In some cases, I have seen them lie there so close together that scarcely a foot of ground, over 

 whole acres, is bare enough to be seen; then a clear and warmer day follows, and this seal-covered 

 ground, before so thickly packed with animal life, will soon be almost deserted: comparatively so 

 at least, to be filled up immediately as before, when favorable weather shall again recur. They 

 must frequently eat when here, because the first yearlings and " Holluschickie" that appear in the 

 spring are no fatter, sleeker, or livelier than they are at the close of the season; in other words, 

 their condition, physically, seems to be the same from the beginning to the end of their appearance 

 here during the summer and fall. It is quite different, however, with the "Seecatch"; wo know 

 how and where it spends two to three months, because we find it on the grounds at all times, day 

 or night, during that period. 



Spoets and pastimbs of the young " Bachblobs." — A small flock of the young Seals, one 

 to three years old, generally, will often stray from these hauling- ground margins, up and beyond, 

 over the fresh mosses and grasses, and there sport and play one with another, just as little puppy- 

 dogs do; and when weary of this gamboling a general disposition to sleep is suddenly manifested, 

 and they stretch themselves out and curl up in all the positions and all the postures that their 

 flexible spines and ball-and-socket joints will permit. They seem to revel in the unwonted vege- 

 tation, and to be delighted with their own eft'orts in rolling down and crushing the tall stalks of 

 the grasses and umbelliferous plants; one will lie upon its back, hold up its hind-flippers, and lazily 

 wave them about, while it scratches, or rather rubs, its ribs with the fore-hands alternately, the 

 eyes being tightly closed during the whole performance; the sensation is evidently so luxurious 

 that it does not wish to have any side-issue draw off its blissful self-attention. Another, curled up 

 like a cat on a rug, draws its bseath, as indicated by the heaving of its flanks, quickly but regu- 

 larly, as though in heavy sleep; another will lie flat upon its stomach, its hind-flippers covered and 

 concealed, while it tightly folds its fore-feet back against its sides, just as a fish carries its pectoral 

 fins — and so on to no end of variety, according to the ground and the fancy of the animals. 



These "Bachelor" Seals are, I am sure, without exception, the most restless animals in the 

 whole brute creation, which can boast of a high organization. They frolic and lope about over the 

 grounds for hours, without a moment's cessation, and their sleep, after this, is exceedingly short, 

 and it is ever accompanied with nervous twitchings and uneasy muscular movements; they seem 

 to be fairly brimful and overrunning with spontaneity — to be surcharged with fervid, electric life. 



Another marked feature which I have observed among the multitudes of "Holluschickie," 

 which have come under my personal observation and auditory, and one very characteristic of this 

 class, is, that nothing like ill-humor appears in all of their playing together; they never growl or 

 bite, or show even the slightest angry feeling, but are invariably as happy, one with another, as 

 ca.n be imagined. This is a very singular trait; they lose it, however, with astonishing rapidity, 

 when their ambition and strength develop and carry them, in due course of time, to the rookery. 



The pups and yearlings have an especial fondness for sporting on the rocks which are just at 

 the water's level and awash, so as to be covered and uncovered as the surf rolls in. On the bare 

 summit of these wave- worn spots, they will struggle and clamber in groups of a dozen or two at a 

 time throughout the whole day, in endeavoring to push off that one of their number which has just 

 been fortunate enough to secure a landing; the successor has, however, but a brief moment of 

 exultation in victory, for the next roller that comes booming in, together with the pressure by its 

 friends, turns the table, and the game is repeated, with another Seal on top. Sometimes, as well 

 as I could see, the same squad of "Holluschickie" played for a whole day and night, without a 



