254 
FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
of pulling we managed to get its head into the boat, but 
there it stuck. Then we lugged it on to the snow again, 
and this time brought the boat's gunwale to a low ice-edge 
and rolled the carcass on board over the oar handles — no 
easy matter, as besides its weight there was the boat to 
hold in, and the ice-edge was weak and gave way under 
our weight. This large seal is undoubtedly one of the most 
horrid-looking animals. Its huge, lizard-like head and 
long body reminded me of the prints of antediluvian 
monsters. This was not one of the largest, but it 
measured ten feet seven inches from the tip of its nose to 
end of the hind flippers. Its internal economy, excepting 
a green fluid, was as empty as a whistle. How these seals 
sleep so comfortably on the cold snow, on an empty 
stomach, puzzles us. 
The men say that owing to their recent domestic 
