THE SEAL. 
245 
storms, and at such times will sit upon the 
rocks and contemplate with seeming delight 
the convulsion of the elements ; widely differ- 
ing in this respect from the terrestrial qua- 
drupeds, which manifest terror on such occa- 
sions. 
The voice of a full-grown seal is hoarse, 
and not unlike the barking of a dog ; that of 
the young has some resemblance to the mew- 
' ing of a kitten. When they are about a fort- 
night old, the mother takes them to the sea, 
and instructs them to swim and to seek their 
food ; and when they are fatigued, she will, it 
is said, carry them on her back. She sits up- 
right on her hind legs while she suckles them ; 
and in this attitude of the seal have, no doubt, 
originated the fabulous stories related of mer- 
maids. 
The seal supplies the Greenlanders and 
the Esquimaux with their principal, most 
palatable, and substantial food. The fat fur- 
