SEAL SHOOTING. 
107 
( Uria grylle ), and other sea-birds. Fine as the weather 
is, we are forced to keep the ship in sight, owing to 
the foggy state of the atmosphere ; presently a second 
boat's crew ventures away, and we observe a signal 
from the deck intended for us, which indicates some¬ 
thing is in store—a seal has been noticed from the deck 
floating at some little distance, and we stealthily go in 
pursuit of the pussy (the seamen’s name for a seal); we 
kneel down in the bows, while a sailor in the stern 
sculls warily towards her, stopping whenever he sees 
the least motion in the ever-watchful animal. She is 
resting on the ice, and as we approach, she lifts her 
head and turns slowly to look upon us, when, of course, 
we remain perfectly still until she again settles quietly 
down. In this way we advance to within about thirty 
yards, when she turns restlessly, as if contemplating 
a sudden move ; we see her keen, inquiring eye turned 
full upon us—a warning word whispered by the sailor, 
and as we pull the trigger, the whisper is changed into 
a wild exclamation of disappointment, for the seal slips 
quietly over the ledge out of sight; we feeling perfectly 
satisfied with the success of the shot, hurry up, and 
entirely forgetting the advice of the Hull Harbour¬ 
master, jump on to the treacherous ice and hasten to 
the opposite side ; there the ledge overhangs some¬ 
what ; the mass yields beneath our weight, and 
