COLLECTING SEAL OIL. 
113 
snow towards some hummocks, for beyond them a 
small batch of seals are seen basking in the sun. We 
take steady aim, and a large seal falls to our gun. 
A second shot seems to add speed to the flight of 
another beast close by, and as he in mad haste tries 
to reach the water, he receives three bullets in his 
tough hide, all to no effect. The seal, unless struck 
in some vital place—the head, or behind the flipper 
at a point directly over the heart, seems indifferent to 
the shock of a bullet; his great shapeless form covered 
with thick layers of fat offers no other definite or 
decided mark for the sportsman, if the head or heart 
are missed. Preparations are quickly made for 
“ flencing ” our seal, but the body is lying on a 
detached piece of ice which must be reached by using 
a smaller block as a raft to float us over. We are 
now more cautious on the ice than on the previous 
occasion, and a haakpick is a valuable aid in testing 
the qualities of the floor beneath us. The seal is 
turned on its back, and a long cut is made from the 
head to its tail, a cut round each flipper, and a few 
more to detach the blubber from the “krang,” then 
the operation of flensing is soon completed. This 
operation, owing to the temperature of the air in 
these high latitudes, is a most sickening sight to con¬ 
template, as the quivering flesh seems still to be 
