144. 


5S) Ex Av In “Geasey 
: nae it had no way to efcape, but by running 
© into fhoal water: the feal purfued ; and the for- 
* mer, to get more furely out of danger, threw it- 
felf on its fide, by which means it darted into 
fhoaler water than it could have fwam in with the — 
depth of its paunch and fins, and fo efcaped. | 
na 
Lad 
a 
‘The feal brings her young about the begin- 
id 
ning of autumn; our fifhermen have feen two 
fucking their dam at the fame time, as. fhe ftood 
in the fea in a perpendicular pofition. 
‘Their head in fwimming is always above 
tn) 
e 
i) 
water, more fo than that of a dog. 
‘ They fleep on rocks furrounded by the fea, or 
‘on the lefs acceffible parts of our cliffs, left dry 
by the ebb of the tide; and if difturbed by any 
thing, take care to tumble over the rocks into 
a 
tat 
‘the fea. They are extremely watchful, and ne- 
‘ver fleep long without moving; feldom longer 
. 
than a minute; then raife their heads, and if they 
‘hear or fee nothing more than ordinary, lie down 
again, and fo on, raifing their heads a little, and 
o 
‘reclining them alternately, in about a minute’s 
‘time. Nature feems to have given them this 
o 
precaution, as being unprovided with auricles, 
or external ears; and confequently not hearing ~ 
o 
very quick, nor from any great diftance.’ | 
In Sir R. Sibbald’s hiftory of Scotland, we find © 
an account of another fpecies of the feal kind, 
which is copied from Boethius. The animal he. 
mentions is the fea-horie, Walrus or Morfe: as this 
vatt 
