HABITS OF A SEAL. 
375 
comparison. He measured eight feet five inches, only 
three inches less than my own big trophy, which, with 
one exception, is the largest recorded in the stories of 
the Polar American hunt. What a glorious feed for 
the scurvy-stricken ships ! 
To-day, for the first time, we had a Tide, made ev- 
ident by the changing phases of the shore. We made 
southing in the forenoon : now, at half past eight P.M., 
the alignment of the hills shows a northward drift. 
The ice is unchanged : our floe is rotating from west 
to south, against the sun, but not equably. We crossed 
the Arctic circle at some unknown hour this forenoon. 
To the eye every thing is as before ; yet it cheats one 
into pleasant thoughts. I do not wish to see a mid- 
night sun again. 
'''■May 30. The seal are out upon the ice, one of the 
most certain of the signs of summer. They are few 
in number, and very cautious. We notice that they 
invariably select an open floe for their hole, and that 
they never leave it more than a few lengths. Their 
alertness is probably due to their vigilant enemy, the 
bear. Sometimes you will see them frolicking togeth- 
er like a parcel of swimming school-boys ; sometimes 
they are solitary, but keenly alive always to the en- 
joyment of the sunshine. I have often crawled with- 
in fair eye-shot, and, seated behind a concealing lump 
of ice, watched their movements. 
" The first act of a seal, after emerging, is a careful 
survey of his limited horizon. For this purpose he 
rises on his fore flippers, and stretches his neck in a 
manner almost dog-like. This maneuver, even during 
apparently complete silence, is repeated every few 
minutes. He next commences with his hind or hori- 
zontal flippers and tail a most singular movement, 
