THE SEAL, 155

in herds of many hundreds upon the ice, huddling over one
another, like swine; and roar or bray so very loud, that in
the night, or in foggy weather, they gave us notice of the
ice, before we could see it. We never found the whole herd
asleep, some being always upon the watch. These, on the
approach of the boat, would awake those next to them; and
the alarm being thus gradually communicated, the whole herd
would be awake presently. But they were seldom in a hurry
to get away, till after they had been once fired at. They
then would tumble over one another into the sea, in the
‘utmost confusion; and, if we did not, at the first discharge,
kill those we fired at, we generally lost them, though mortally
wounded. They did not appear to us to be that dangerous
animal which some authors have described, not even when
attacked. They are more so in appearance than reality.
Vast numbers of them would follow, and come close up to
the oars; but the flash of the musket in the pan, or even the
bare pointing of one at them, would send them down in an
instant. The female will defend her young to the very last,
at the expense of her own life, whether in the water or upon
the ice. Noi will the young one quit the dam, though she
be dead; so that, if one is killed, the other is certain prey.
The dam, when in the water, holds the young one between
her fore arms.”
The Common ‘The True Seals are divided by Dr. Gray into
Seal. thirteen genera with eighteen species, of which
the Common Seal, the Ringed Seal, the Harp Seal, the Grey
Seal, the Sea Leopard, the Sea Elephant, and the Bladder-
nose Hooded Seal are the best known. The common seal
has a round head which in front bears some resemblance to
that of the otter. Its average length is about five feet and
its general colour of a yellowish gray, varied or spotted with
brown or blackish in different degrees, according to the age
of the animal. The Common Seal frequents the sea-coasts
perhaps throughout the world, but is most numerous in high