TRAVELS IN ICELAND. 



109 



'when well prepared, sell for as much as those of oxen, cows, of 

 rams ; they are, however, rather spongy : they are used for shoes. 

 In winter the Landselur contains most fat ; as one of these ani- 

 mals then affords from fifty to sixty pounds, but in summer it 

 does not give half that quantity. A pound of lard of the best 

 quality will furnish half a pint of oil ; but in general not more 

 than three or four quarts is derived from a Fwrdung of lard, 

 which weighs ten pounds. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEALS. 



The inhabitants relate many anecdotes of the sea-dogs already 

 mentioned, and particularly of the Landselur. They say that 

 these animals are very observant; aud when they perceive any new 

 object on the land, they approach towards it: which has suggest- 

 ed to the inhabitants the idea of catching them in two ways. 

 They spread nets in the streigbts and bays through which the 

 seals pass ; ana then on a dark evening they make a fire on the 

 coast with shavings, horn, and other combustible substances, 

 that exhale a strong smell : the seal, attracted by the scent, 

 swims towards the tire, and is taken in the nets. Sometimes 

 these animals are met with at a considerable distance up the 

 country, being attracted in a dark night by the common light m 

 a house. They are easily tamed : and the people put them, when 

 young, into ponds, and feed them daily ; by which they become 

 as tractable as a common dog, run about the yard, and follow 

 the master of the house or any one else who may call them by 

 their name. In some years the seal is almost starved ; when, for 

 instance, the winter is severe, fish and insects are scarce, and the 

 sea-weed by which they are nourished is carried off by the ice 

 and breakers : they are then found so lean and weak, that it is 

 impossible for them to escape, and they are easily taken ; their 

 fat is consequently wasted, and nothing is found in their stomachs 

 but a few marine plants and stones. 



SUPERSTITIOUS IDEAS OF THE PEOPLE CONCERNING 

 THIS ANIMAL. 



It is singular that the lower order of people in Iceland have a 

 high veneration for the seal, and at the same time an aversion to- 

 wards that animal. This doubtless anses from the unfounded 

 idea, that it bears a greater resemblance to man than any other 

 creature. The Icelanders pretend that it has a wonderful in- 

 stinct ; and some extravagant fables they relate of it. The 

 seal certainly resembles a dog more than a man, and this has 

 doubtless induced modern naturalists to give it the name of 

 ?he sea-dog. We are convinced of this resemblance from the 

 dissection of a couple of seals of the lirst and best-known spe- 



