signs of ears, only two auditory passages in the sides of the head; it has whiskers about its mouth, and its teeth somewhat resemble those of the wolf; the tongue is sloped at the point; the body, hands, and feet, covered with a short and bristly hair; it has no legs, but two feet, or membranes, like hands, with five toes, terminated by as many These membranes, which have the appearance of hands, are backwards, as if designed to unite with its

accompany on both sides. The body is thick Fery's

er and turned

tail, which they

where the neck is joined to it, whence the animal tapers down to the tail like a fish. This amphibious creature, though of a very different nature from that of our domestic animals, yet seems susceptible of a kind of education. It is taught to salute persons with its head and its voice; it is accustomed to obey the call of its keeper, and gives many other signs of intelligence and docility.

The sensations of the seal are as perfect, and its sagacity as ready, as those of any other quadruped; both the one and the other are strongly marked by its docility, its social qualities, its strong instinct for its female, its great attention towards its young, and by its voice, which is more expressive and more modulated than in other animals. Its body is likewise firm and large. It is also strong, and armed with very sharp teeth and claws, and has many particular and singular advantages over any other animals we can compare with it. It endures both heat and cold, and feeds indifferently on grass, flesh, or fish. It can equally live on ice, land, or in the water. On account of their remaining so long a time under water, it was supposed that the foramen ovale remained open, as in the human foetus, but it is not so.

But these advantages, which are very great, are counterbalanced by imperfections still greater: they may be said to be deprived of the use of their fore legs, or membranes; they are almost entirely shut up within its body, while nothing appears but the extremities of them, which are furnished with five toes, scarcely moveable, being united together by a very strong mem brane, so that they might more properly be called fins than feet, as they are. more adapted for the purpose of swimming than walking; the bind feet, indeed, being turned backwards, are entirely useless upon land; so that' when the animal is obliged to move, it drags itself forward like a reptile, and with an effort more painful; for it cannot twist itself about like a ser pent, but lies like a lump on the earth, and by grasping whatever it 'finds in its reach, drags itself up the steepest shores, rocks, and shoals of ice: by this method, it moves with such a degree of swiftness, that a man cannot overtake it. It makes its way towards the sea, and often, though wounded, escapes the pursuit of the hunter.

Seals are social animals, and are generally found in great numbers in the places they frequent: their natural climate is the northern, but they are also met with, in the temperate, and even hot countries; for they are seen on the shores of almost all the seas in the universe. The species alone

seem to vary; and, according to the difference of climates, its color changes, and even its shape.

The females of these animals bring forth in winter, and rear their young upon some sand bank, rock, or small island, at some distance from the continent. When they suckle their young, they sit upon their hinder legs, and they continue with their dam for twelve or fifteen days; after which, she brings them down to the water, accustoms them to swim, and get their food by their own industry. As each litter never exceeds above three or four, so the animal's cares are not much divided, and the education of her little ones is soon completed. The young, particularly, distinguish their mother's voice among the numerous bleatings of the old ones, and are perfectly obedient to her call. The time that intervenes, from their birth till they attain their full growth, being many years, the length of their lives must also be very long. Buffon is of the opinion, that these animals live upwards of a hundred years.

The voice of the seal may be compared to the barking of an angry dog. When young, they have a shrill note, somewhat like the mewing of a cat. Those that are taken early from their dams mew continually, and very often die, sooner than take the food that is offered them. These animals, in general, are of a courageous nature. It is remarked, that, instead of being terrified at thunder and lightning, they are rather delighted, generally come on shore in tempests and storms, and even quit their icy abodes to avoid the shock of the tempestuous waves: at such times, they sport in great num"bers along the shore; the tremendous conflict seems to divert them, and the heavy rains that fall, appear to enliven them. They have naturally a disagreeable scent, and when there are great numbers together, it is perceived at a great distance.

As they have a prodigious quantity of blood, and are also greatly overloaded with fat, they are consequently of a very dull and heavy nature; they usually sleep soundly, and are fond of taking their repose on flakes of ice, or on the sides of rocks, at which time the hunters approach very near without disturbing them, and this is the usual method of taking them. They are very seldom killed with firearms; for, as they do not immediately die, even if they are shot in the head, they plunge into the sea, and are entirely lost to the hunter. The general method, therefore, is to surprise them when asleep, and knock them on the head.

2

THE GREENLAND SEAL.1

THESE animals differ considerably in size, being found from four to nine feet long. They also vary in their colors; some being black, others white, some spotted, and many yellow. Their chief food consists of fish, which they are remarkably expert in pursuing and catching. In those places where herrings are seen in shoals, the seals destroy them by thousands; and when these retire, they are obliged to hunt after fish that are stronger and more capable of evading pursuit. They are taken for the sake of their skins and the oil their fat yields. The seal is capable of being tamed, and is said to be fond of music. The Icelanders believe them to be the offspring of Pharaoh, and his host, who were converted into seals on their being overwhelmed in the Red Sea. Were the race of this creature to cease to exist, the Greenlander would be rendered almost unable to inhabit his rigid clime, as it is principally from them that he derives the necessaries of life. There is scarcely a part of them which is not of the highest utility to him.

The manner in which a Greenlander catches a seal, is as follows: The instant a seal is seen, he whispers, pussee! (seal,) along the surface of the

water, to the nearest of his companions, who telegraphs the signal till all the boats are engaged in the chase; and it is seldom possible for their prey to escape. The seal is impetuous in disposition, and having once discovered his pursuers, he dives repeatedly, and in different directions, to confound them; but becomes at length so short breathed by his hurry, that he cannot remain long out of sight; and, as the uskees are around at various points watching the favorable moment, one of them paddles silently in his rear, using the paddle with one hand, while with the other he is getting his tackle in order; and having advanced near enough, for he is sure to measure

the distance with accuracy, he flings the dart, and never fails to strike. The seal, terrified and wounded, dives in the greatest terror; but a float being attached to the dart by a leathern line, he is soon forced up again and despatched.

European and American ships are sent to the high northern latitudes to procure the oil and skins of seals, which are of extensive importance in commerce and manufactures.

One mode of killing the seal, is to go to the caves on shore, into which herds of seals occasionally enter. When the sealers are properly placed, they raise a simultaneous shout, at which the affrighted animals rush out in great confusion, and are dispatched with wonderful quickness, by a single blow on the nose, struck with a club. They are very tenacious of life when struck or wounded on any other part of the body.

The best situation for sealing in the Arctic seas, is stated by Scoresby, to be in the vicinity of Jan Mayen's Island; and the best season, the months of March and April. When the boats arrive at the ice, the sealers imme-. diately attack the animals with clubs, and stun them by a single blow over the nose, which mode enables one person to destroy a large number of seals; when they are seen on pieces of drift ice they are hunted by means of boats, each boat pursuing a different herd; should the seals attempt to leave the ice before the arrival of the boat, the sealers shout as loudly as possible, and produce such amazement in the seals by this uproar, as to delay their flight till the boat arrives and the work of destruction is begun. Where the seals are very numerous, the sealers stop not flay those they have killed, but

lind to

the ice forbids the use of

jumping from piece en stops to flay and metimes is a horrible busi

set off to another ice field to kill more, me take off the skins and fat. When the conditi boats, the hunter is obliged to pursue the sea to piece, until they succeed in taking one, wi flense, or to remove the skin and fat. This ness, since many of the seals are merely stunned, and occasionally recover after they have been flayed and flensed. In this condition, too shockingly mangled for description, they have been seen to make battle and even to swim off.

The number of seals destroyed in a single season, by the regular sealers, may well excite surprise. One ship has been known to obtain a cargo of four or five thousand skins, and upwards of a hundred tons of oil. Whale ships have accidently fallen in with and secured two or three thousand of these animals during the month of April. The sealing business is, however, very hazardous when conducted on the borders of the Spitzbergen ice. Many ships, with all their crews, are lost by the sudden and tremendous storms occurring in those seas, where the dangers are vastly multiplied by the driving of immense bodies of ice. In one storm that occurred in the year 1774, no less than five seal ships were destroyed in a few hours, and six hundred valuable seamen perished.

THE FETID SEAL.1

THIS seal, when full grown, is about four feet and a half long, and its skin is covered with a dingy white hair, composed of stiff bristles and soft hair. The old animals are remarkably fetid, and this nauseous odor taints their flesh and fat equally. The fetid seal frequents the fixed ice near frozen lands, and never relinquishes its haunts when old. It has holes in the ice for the purpose of fishing, and is solitary in its habits, pairs being rarely seen together. It is not a timid animal, and is occasionally preyed upon by the eagle, being taken while asleep upon the surface.

THE SEA LION, OR ELEPHANT SEAL.?

To the species of seals, as above described, we may, with great propriety, add another animal, described in Anson's Voyages, by the name of the sea lion. It is found in great numbers on the coasts of the South Sea. The sea lion resembles the sea calf, which is very common in the same latitude; but they are much larger than any of the former, being from eleven to eighteen feet long, and from eight to eleven in circumference. It is so fat, that when the skin is taken off, the blubber is about a foot thick all round the body. About ninety gallons of oil is drawn from one of these animals; they are at the same time very full of blood, and when deeply wounded in many parts of the body, the blood spouts out with amazing power; the throat of one of these animals being cut, it afforded two barrels of blood, besides what then remained in its body. Its skin is covered with a short hair of a brownish color, but blackish on the tail and feet: their toes are united by a membrane which does not reach to their extremity; each of the toes is known by a claw. The sea lion differs from the seal, not only in its size and bulk, but also in some other characters; the male has a kind of thick comb or trunk hanging from the end of the upper jaw, about five or six inches long, which becomes inflated when the animal is angry. This character is not seen in the female. The strongest males collect together a flock of females, and hinder the others from approaching them. These animals are truly amphibious; they remain all the summer in the sea, and go on shore in the winter, at which season the females bring forth their young, but never above one or two at a litter, which they suckle, like the seal.

The sea lions, while they are on shore, feed on the grass by the side of the sea; they are of a very heavy and drowsy nature, and delight to sleep in the mire; but they are very wary, and at those times commonly fix some as sentinels near the place where they sleep; and it is said, that these senti

1 Phoca fœtida, MULL.

2 Phoca ansonii, DESM.