THE CRESTED SEAL . 
403 
been mentioned, the nostrils are not placed at the extremity of the muzzle, but npon each side 
of it, and are consequently protected by the overhanging^head. 
It has often happened that when the Seal-hunters have been engaged in the pursuit of 
their prey, they have laid several of these animals to all appearance senseless on the ground, 
awaiting the stroke of the knife that shall complete the victory. The animals, however, are 
but slightly stunned, and recovering from their temporary swoon, return to the conflict with 
such unexpected energy that their assailants are forced to have recourse to summary measures 
when engaged in the chase of these creatures. 
The onset of an enraged Crested Seal is much to be dreaded, for the creature is marvel- 
lously fierce when its anger is roused, and its strength is very considerable. The teeth, too, 
are formidably powerful, and can inflict very dangerous wounds. In fighting, they can use 
their claws as well as their teeth. The males are always pugnacious animals, and during the 
season when they choose their mates are in the habit of fighting desperately among each other 
for the possession of some attractive female, and in these combats inflict severe lacerations. 
During these conflicts the two combatants express their mutual rage by emitting a torrent of 
loud, passionate, yelling screams, which are audible at a considerable distance. 
It is a polygamous animal, one male ruling over a small herd of wives. 
The fur of this animal is of some value, and great numbers of these skins are annually 
imported into Europe, where they are used for various purposes. To the Greenlander this 
Seal is of incalculable value, as he makes use of almost every portion of its body as well as of 
its skin. Of the fur he makes his thick, cold-resisting costume, and with the skin he covers 
those wonderful little boats in which he braves the fury of the ocean in search of his aquatic 
quarry. Of the stomach he makes air buoys, which he fastens to his lances, and which indi- 
cate the position of any Seal or other animal that he may strike, and also serve to tire the 
wounded prey, and enable the hunter to repeat his blow. Even the teeth are pressed into his 
service, and are used as convenient heads for his spears. 
In the preparation of the Seal skin for civilized nations it is needful to remove the long 
coarse hairs, and to leave only the soft woolly fur adherent to the skin. The process is very 
simple, consisting in heating the skin, and then scraping it while hot with a wooden knife. 
The color of this creature’s fur is, when adult, a dark blue-black upon the back, fading to 
a yellowish-white on the under portions of the body. A number of large gray patches are 
irregularly scattered over the body, and in the centre of each patch there js a dark spot. The 
head, the tail, and the feet, are black. In the young animal the colors are not of the same cast, 
being during the first year of a slate-gray upon the back and silvery-white below, darkening in 
the second year to a brownish-gray along the spine. 
It is a moderately large animal, being from ten to twelve feet in length when adult, and 
stout in proportion. 
The Crested Seal is found spread over the coasts of Southern Greenland, and is in the 
habit of reposing much upon ice islands, caring comparatively little for ordinary land. It 
also frequents the shores of Northern America. From September to March it is found in 
Davis’ s Straits, but leaves that locality for the purpose of producing and rearing its young, 
and returns again in June, together with its offspring, in a very bare and poor condition. About 
July it takes another excursion, and employs its time in recovering the health and strength 
which it had lost during the period of its former absence, so that in September it is very fat, 
and altogether in excellent condition. 
By the native Greenlanders it is termed “ Neitsersoak.” 
The natives of the localities which are inhabited by this animal are in the habit of 
employing two methods for their capture, the one being only a question of patience between 
the man and the Seal, and the other a fair measurement of human reason against sealish 
sagacity ; the former generally, but not always, proving the superior. The two modes are as 
follows : 
The Seals are in the habit of making, or preserving in some way, certain round holes in the 
ice, which communicate with the water, and which serve them as doors through which they 
can enter or leave the water without being forced to crawl to the edge of the ice-field. It 
