86 
SEALS. 
face of cold white, and, except to landward, there is 
nothing to arrest the eye. 
" This shore, however, although fifty miles off, is 
visihle enough, showing throughout all the hours of 
our now perpetual day a tall peak, rising like a light- 
house from a group of hills. This striking landmark 
is called the ' Devil's Thumb.' 
^^July 11. The wind changed at 8 A.M., coming from 
the northward and eastward ; but the pack seems as 
yet uninfluenced. We are hemmed in as closely a& 
ever. 
" Last night Lieutenant De Haven, who had been 
fixedly examining an object between us and the shore, 
passed the glass to me, with the question, ' What do 
you make of that?' Without any hesitation, I an- 
swered, 'A mast, with gaff and main-sail partially 
clewed up.' It seemed to me that one of the Danish 
fore-and-aft schooners had anchored at the edge of the 
pack, or just within it. Our commander thought so 
too ; but a glance through a Fraunhofer telescope 
showed it to be a mere freak of refraction. 
"Several seals were seen upon the more distant 
floes, but, in spite of all my efforts, I could not approach 
near enough for a shot. They are always on the alert, 
and at the slightest suspicion betake themselves to 
their holes. The Esquimaux use a canvas frame or 
screen, which they move before their persons, and, by 
a patient process of stalking, succeed in getting with- 
in rifle shot. The Danish company supply them with 
arms, and they seldom miss their aim. I managed to 
get sufiiciently close to recognize two species — the 
Greenland Saddle -back and the Vituline [Phoca 
Groenlandica and P. vituUna) ; but strange to say, the 
Rough seal, the Phoca fodtida of the Greenland fau- 
