51 
the sea, it is no small treat to see the suddenness 
with which the uncouth animal, so unwieldy and 
heipless on land, becomes gracefully alert in the 
ocean. The command with which he strikes through 
the water, the velocity with which he cleaves the 
flood, the ease with which he winds the mazes of 
the rocks, and dashes forward into the hidden 
recesses of the deep are beautifully interesting in a 
creature looking so essentially quadruped. When 
the boat is afloat again the seals come trooping out 
of their caverns to reconnoitre. At about a depth 
of three feet they paddle about, gazing up through 
the clear liquid with an expression of countenance 
beaming with curiosity and intelligence. They dodge 
around the boat, occasionally ascending to the sur- 
face to renew their inspirations of air, and to look, 
upon their island-home, to ascertain whether they 
may return there and be at rest. A grown-up cub 
about four feet long had been taken by the people ; 
one seal was observed more persevering in her watch- 
fulness and assiduity to regain the shore than the 
rest ; this was conjectured to be the dam of the 
slaughtered young one. The maternal instinct did 
not exhibit any stronger emotion than this anxious 
vigilance ; the young one was sufficiently crown to 
be no longer dependent on the mother. Had it 
been still sucking, there was enough to shew that 
the parental passion would have merged fearlessness 
into fury, and inquietude for the safety of its young 
into unsparing vengeance for its fate, 
Without doing more than referring to Weddell’s 
observation that the jaw of the seal he describes was 
