VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. 
59 
sight which was presented on our approaching the 
spot. There were many hundred seals upon one 
piece of ice, and they literally covered its surface ; 
some lying asleep at their full length, others play- 
fully stretched in an infinite variety of postures: when 
the boats arrived within one hundred yards of them, 
the alarm was given, for some of a herd are always 
on the watch : they instantly reared themselves to 
give us a look, then hurried to the edge of the ice 
as fast as their inaptness for travelling would per- 
mit, and plunged into the water. The animals 
presented a whimsical scene of confusion as they 
tumbled about and overturned each other in the 
attempt to escape. The men in the boat wished 
me not to use my gun, stating that they had fur- 
nished themselves with clubs, with which they could 
kill plenty : but the agility of these amphibious 
animals eluded the activity of their pursuers, and 
was astonishing, considering the shortness of their 
legs, and the great exertion by which their move- 
ments were effected : only one was procured. On 
a piece of ice yet further, about twenty more were 
seen reposing ; and, having now full as much faith 
in my gun as in the activity of the boat’s crew, I 
singled out one of the handsomest, (marked by a 
bright arrangement of various colours,) that was 
marching away in double quick time, and lodged 
a charge of small shots in his black pug nose : thus 
he was easily secured ; the boat’s crew also caught 
one, after it had made great efforts to save its 
