48 
MEMOIR OF PENNANT. 
are used for clothing ; a good one is equal in value 
to the skin of a sheep, or the hide of a cow ; and 
the fat supplies the lamps in the long nights with 
oil. The Icelanders have two species of native 
seals, the common called by them latid-soelur, be- 
cause it keeps near the coast ; the other the great 
seal, or uU-swlur. They are taken in nets placed 
in the creeks and narrow bays, which they pass 
through to get on shore. When it begins to grow 
dark, the hunters make a fire, and fling into it the 
shaidngs of horns, or any thing that smells strong. 
This allm'es the seals, who strike into the nets and_ 
are taken. At other times a Koder or lure is tied 
to a rope, and placed before the nets ; to which the 
seals, supposing it to he some strange animal, will 
eagerly swim, and strike into the nets ; paying with 
their lives for their curiosity. This carries them 
sometimes so far, that they will stray to a consider- 
able distance inland, attracted by a candle or the 
fire in a smith’s forge. If they are young, they are 
capable of being tamed; they will follow their 
master, and come to him like a dog, when called by 
the name which is given them. The Icelanders 
have a strange superstition about these animals; 
they believe they resemble the human species more 
than any other ; and that they are the offspring of 
Pharaoh and his host, who were converted into 
seals when they were overwhelmed in the Red 
Sea. 
“ Other species of seals are migratory ; among 
