450 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



SEAL-HOLE AND IGLOO. 



skill and perseverance. She, for some- 

 how the male seal seems now not to be 

 noticed, has a breathing-hole through 

 the ice, to which she must come now 

 and then for air. Upon the surface of 

 the solid ice, which is covered with 

 snow, the prospective mother constructs 

 an igloo for her progeny. She scrapes 

 off the snow until she has formed a 

 dome, carrying away the snow down 

 through the hole in the ice. Upon the 

 shelf of ice surrounding the hole the 

 young one is born, and there it is egu- 

 larly visited by the mother. None but 

 very keen-scented animals, such as the 

 bear, fox, and dog, can discover such 

 an igloo. The dog sometimes captures 

 a seal. Hall describes such an evert • 

 "Ebierbing had one day been out with 

 dogs and sledge where the ice was still 

 firm, when suddenly a seal was noticed 



ahead. In an instant the dogs were off towards the prey, drawing the sledge 

 after them at a marvellous rate. The seal for a moment acted as if frightened, 

 and kept on the ice a second or two too long, for just as he plunged. Smile, 

 the best seal and bear dog I ever saw, caught him by the tail and flippers. The 



seal struggled violently, and so did 

 Smile y but in a moment more the oth- 

 er dogs laid hold, and aided in dragging 

 the seal out of his hole, when Smile 

 took it in charge. The prize was se- 

 cured wholly by the dogs." 



Dogs seem to hunt the seal only 

 upon their master's account ; but the 

 fox and the bear capture him for them- 

 selves. How the fox contrives to get 

 into a seal igloo we are not told ; but 

 as they manage to break open the best 

 packed provision-cases, Ave may assume 

 that they know how to commit bur- 

 glary upon the igloo of a poor seal. If 

 the Innuits are to be beUeved, the way 

 the bear goes to work is this : When 

 he has scented out the precise position 

 of an igloo he goes back a little dis- 



WAITING FOR A BLOW. 



tance, so as to get a good run ; and 

 then, giving a high leap, comes down 



