the seal! the seal! 
287 
walrus. Signal was made for the Hope to follow 
astern, and, trembling with anxiety, we prepared to 
crawl down upon him. 
Petersen, with the large English rifle, was stationed 
in the bow, and stockings were drawn over the oars as 
mufflers. As we neared the animal, our excitement 
became so intense that the men could hardly keep 
stroke. I had a set of signals for such occasions, which 
spai’cd us the noise of the voice; and when about three 
hundred yards olF, the oars were taken in, and we 
moved on in deep silence with a single scull astern. 
He was not asleep, for he reared his head when we 
were almost within rifle-shot; and to this day I can 
remember the hard, careworn, almost despairing ex¬ 
pression of the men’s thin faces as they saw him move: 
their lives depended on his capture. 
I depressed my hand nervously, as a signal for Peter¬ 
sen to fire. McGary hung upon his oar, and the boat, 
slowly but noiselessly sagging ahead, seemed to me 
within certain range. Looking at Petersen, I saw that 
the poor fellow was paralyzed by his anxiety, trying 
vainly to obtain a rest for his gun against the cut¬ 
water of the boat. The seal rose on his fore-flippers, 
gazed at us for a moment with frightened curiosity, 
and coiled himself for a plunge. At that instant, 
simultaneously with the crack of our rifle, he relaxed 
his long length on the ice, and, at the very brink of 
the water, his head fell helpless to one side. 
I would have ordered another shot, but no discipline 
could have controlled the men. With a wild yell, each 
