HARP SEAL. 9,63 
gularly defined black arch or crescent commen- 
cing at the upper part of the back ; the two bows 
or horns proceeding obhquely downwards along 
each side towards the tail : the head also is black : 
it is said, however, that the black arch does not 
appear till the fifth year of the animal's age; and 
that the colour differs annually till that period, 
during which time the species is distinguished by 
the Greenlanders according to the respective va- 
riation of colour. There is also said to be a 
blackish variety. 
The English Seal-hunters term this species the 
Harp Seal, or Heart Seal, and the black arch is 
called the saddle. It is a native of the seas about 
Greenland, Newfoundland, Iceland, the White 
Sea, &c. and, according to Mr. Pennant, passes 
through the Asiatic Straits, as low as Kamt- 
schatka. It is reckoned the most valuable of all 
the Seals; the skin being the thickest and the 
best, and its produce of oil the greatest. It grows 
to the length of nine feet. In the Leverian Mu- 
seum is a fine specimen of this animal. 
