in zoology, a genus of quadrupeds of the order of ferae. There are six parallel fore-teeth in the upper jaw, the outermost being larger; and four blunt, parallel, distinct, equal fore-teeth in the under jaw. There is but one dog-tooth, and five or six three-pointed grinders; and the hind feet are united so as to resemble a sheep's tail. There are a variety of species, the principal of which are,

1. The urina, sea-bear, or urinae seal, has external ears. The male is greatly superior in size to the female. The bodies of each are of a conic form, very thick before, and taper to the tail. The length of a large one is eight feet; the greatest circumference, five feet; near the tail, 20 inches; and the weight is about 800 lb. The nose projects like that of a pug-dog, but the head rises suddenly; the teeth lock into one another when the mouth is shut: the tongue is large; the eyes are large and prominent, and may be covered at pleasure by a fleshy membrane. The length of the fore-legs is 24 inches; they are like those of other quadrupeds, not immersed in the body like those of seals; the feet are formed with toes like those of other animals, but are covered with a naked skin, so that externally they seem to be a shapeless mass; the hind-legs are fixed to the body quite behind, like those of common seals; but are capable of being brought forward, so that the animal makes use of them to scratch its head.

These animals are found in the northern seas. They Pennant's are found in amazing quantities between Kamtschatka Arctic Zoology, and America; but are scarcely known to land on the Asiatic shore: nor are they ever taken except in the three Kurilian islands, and from thence in the Bobrovie More, or Beaver Sea, as far as the Kronofski headland, off the river Kamtschatka, which comprehends only from 50 to 56 north latitude. It is observable that they never double the southern cape of the peninsula, or are found on the western side in the Penschiniska sea: but their great resort has been observed to be in Bering's islands. They are as regularly migratory as birds of passage. They first appear off the three Kurili islands and Kamtschatka in the earliest spring. There is not one female which does not come pregnant. Such as are then taken are opened, the young taken out and skinned. They are found in Bering's island only on the western shore, being the part opposite to Asia, where they first appear on their migration from the south.

Urine seals are also found in the southern hemisphere, even from under the line, in the isle of Galapagos (a), to New Georgia, in south latitude 54° 15' and west longitude 37° 15'. In the intermediate parts, they are met with in New Zealand, in the isle of Juan Fernandez, and its neighbour Maffa Fuera, and probably along the coasts of Chili to Terra del Fuego and Staten Land. In Juan Fernandez, Staten Land, and New Georgia, they swarm; as they do at the northern extremity of this vast ocean. Those of the southern hemisphere have also their seasons of migration.—Alexander Selkirk, who passed three lonely years on the isle of Juan Fernandez, remarks that they come ashore in June, and stay till September. Captain Cook found them again in their place of remigration in equal abundance, on Staten Land and New Georgia in the months of December and January; and Don Pernety found them on the Falkland islands in the month of February. According to the Greenlanders, this species inhabits the southern parts of their country. They call it Auvekjak. That it is very fierce, and tears to pieces whatsoever it meets; that it lives on land as well as in water, and is greatly dreaded by the hunters.

During the three months of summer they lead a most indolent

(a) Woodes Roger's Voy. 265. He says that they are neither so numerous there, nor is their fur so fine, as those on Juan Fernandez, which is said to be extremely soft and delicate. Phoca. indolent life; they arrive at the islands vastly fat; but during that time they are scarce ever in motion, confine themselves for whole weeks to one spot, sleep a great part of the time, eat nothing, and, except the employment the females have in suckling their young, are totally inactive. They live in families; each male has from 8 to 50 females, whom he guards with the jealousy of an eastern monarch; and though they lie by thousands on the shores, each family keeps itself separate from the rest, and sometimes, with the young and unmarried ones, amount to 120. The old animals, which are destitute of females, or deserted by them, live apart, and are excessively splenetic, peevish, and quarrelsome; are exceeding fierce, and so attached to their old haunts, that they would die sooner than quit them. They are monstrously fat, and have a most horrid smell. If another approaches their station, they are roused from their indolence, and instantly snap at it, and a battle ensues; in the conflict, they perhaps intrude on the seat of another: this gives new cause of offence, so in the end the discord becomes universal, and is spread through the whole shore.

The other males are also very irascible: the causes of their disputes are generally these. The first and most terrible is, when an attempt is made by another to seduce one of their mistresses or a young female of the family. This insult produces a combat; and the conqueror is immediately followed by the whole seraglio, who are sure of defeating the unhappy vanquished. The second reason of a quarrel is, when one invades the seat of another: the third arises from their interfering in the disputes of others. These battles are very violent; the wounds they receive are very deep, and resemble the cuts of a sabre. At the end of a fight they fling themselves into the sea, to wash away the blood.

The males are very fond of their young, but very tyrannical towards the females; if any body attempts to take their cub, the male stands on the defensive, while the female makes off with the young in her mouth; should she drop it, the former instantly quits his enemy, falls on her, and beats her against the stones, till he leaves her for dead. As soon as she recovers, she comes in the most suppliant manner to the male, crawls to his feet, and wishes them with her tears: he, in the mean time, stalks about in the most insulting manner; but in case the young one is carried off, he melts into the deepest affliction, and shows all signs of extreme concern. It is probable that he feels his misfortunes the more sensibly, as the female generally brings but one at a time, never more than two.

They swim very swiftly, at the rate of seven miles an hour. If wounded, they will seize on the boat, and carry it along with vast impetuosity, and oftentimes sink it. They can continue a long time under water. When they want to climb the rocks, they fasten with the fore-paws, and so draw themselves up. They are very tenacious of life, and will live for a fortnight after receiving such wounds as would immediately destroy any other animal.

The Kamtschatkans take them by harpooning, for they never land on their shore. To the harpoon is fastened a long line, by which they draw the animal to the boat after it is spent with fatigue; but in the chase, the hunters are very fearful of too near an approach, least the animal should fasten on, and sink their vessel.

The uses of them are not great. The flesh of the old males is rank and nauseous; that of the females is said to resemble lamb; of the young ones roasted, a fucking pig. The skins of the young, cut out of the bellies of the dams, are esteemed for clothing, and are sold for about three shillings and fourpence each; those of the old for only four shillings.

Their remigration is in the month of September, when they depart excessively lean, and take their young with them. On their return, they again pass near the same parts of Kamtschatka which they did in the spring. Their winter retreats are quite unknown; it is probable that they are the islands between Kurili and Japan, of which we have some brief accounts, under the name of Compagnie Land, States Land, and Jejo Gafma, which were discovered by Martin Uriel in 1642. It is certain, that by his account the natives employed themselves in the capture of seals. Sailors do not give themselves the trouble of observing the nice distinction of specific marks; we are therefore at liberty to conjecture those which he saw to be our animals, especially as we can fix on no more convenient place for their winter quarters. They arrive along the shores of the Kurili islands, and part of those of Kamtschatka, from the south. They land and inhabit only the western side of Bering's island which faces Kamtschatka; and when they return in September, their route is due south, pointing towards the discoveries of Uriel. Had they migrated from the south-east as well as the south-west, every isle, and every side of every isle, would have been filled with them; nor should we have found (as we do) such a constant and local residence.

2. The leonina, sea-lion, or bottlenose, is found near the south pole. One variety of this species is described at some length by the publisher of Anfor's voyage. However, according to others who have written on this subject, the name of sea-lion belongs not so properly to this as to another, which has a mane like a true lion. Of these we have the following account from Pennant's Historical Journal. "The hair that covers the back part of the head, neck, and shoulders, is at least as long as the hair of a goat. It gives this amphibious animal an air of resemblance to the common lion of the forest, excepting the difference of size. The sea-lions of the kind I speak of are 25 feet in length, and from 19 to 20 in their greatest circumference. In other respects they resemble the common sea-lions. Those of the small kind have a head resembling a mastiff's, with close cropped ears.

"The teeth of the sea-lions which have manes, are much larger and more solid than those of the rest. In these, all the teeth which are inserted into the jaw-bone are hollow. They have only four large ones, two in the lower and two in the upper jaw. The rest are not even so large as those of a horse. I brought home one belonging to the true sea-lion, which is at least three inches in diameter, and seven in length, though not one of the largest. We counted 22 of the same fort in the jaw-bone of one of these lions, where five or six were wanting. They were entirely solid, and projected scarce more than an inch, or an inch." a half beyond their sockets. They are nearly equal in fidelity to flint, and are of a dazzling white. Seve- ral of our seamen took them for white flints when they found them upon the shore. I could not even persuade them that they were not real flints, except by rubbing them against each other, or breaking some pieces off, to make them sensible that they exhaled the same smell as bones and ivory do when they are rubbed or scraped.

"These sea lions that have manes are not more mischievous or formidable than the others. They are equally unwieldy and heavy in their motions; and are rather disposed to avoid than to fall upon those who attack them. Both kinds live upon fish and water-fowl, which they catch by surprise. They bring forth and suckle their young ones among the corn flags, where they retire at night, and continue to give them suck till they are large enough to go to sea. In the evening you see them assembling in herds upon the shore, and calling their dams in cries so much like lambs, calves, and goats, that, unless apprised of it, you would easily be deceived. The tongue of these animals is very good eating: we preferred it to that of an ox or calf. For a trial we cut off the tip of the tongue hanging out of the mouth of one of these lions which was just killed. About 16 or 18 of us eat each a pretty large piece, and we all thought it so good, that we regretted we could not cut more of it.

"It is said that their flesh is not absolutely disa- greeable. I have not tasted it; but the oil which is extracted from their grease is of great use. This oil is extracted two ways; either by cutting the fat in pie- ces, and melting it in large cauldrons upon the fire; or by cutting it in the same manner upon hurdles, or pieces of board, and exposing them to the sun, or only to the air: this grease dissolves of itself, and runs into vessels placed underneath to receive it.— Some of our seamen pretended, that this last sort of oil, when it is fresh, is very good for kitchen uses: this, as well as the other, is commonly used for dress- ing leather for vessels, and for lamps. It is preferred to that of the whale: it is always clear, and leaves no sediment.

"The skins of the sea-lions are used chiefly in ma- king portmanteaus, and in covering trunks. When they are tanned, they have a grain almost like Morocco. They are not so fine, but are less liable to tear, and keep fresh a longer time. They make good shoes and boots, which, when well seasoned, are wa- ter-proof.

"One day Mr Guyot and some others brought on board five sea lionesses. They were about seven feet long, and three and a half in circumference, tho' their intestines were drawn. These gentlemen had landed on a small island, where they found a prodigious number of these animals, and killed eight or nine hundred of them with sticks. No other weapon is necessary on these occasions. A single blow with a bludgeon, three feet or three feet and a half long, almost full at the nose of these animals, knocks them down, and kills them on the spot.

"This is not altogether the case with the males: their size is prodigious. Our gentlemen encountered two of them for a long time, with the same weapons, without being able to overcome them. They lodged three balls in the throat of one while he opened his mouth to defend himself, and three musket-shot in his body. The blood gushed from his wounds like wine from a tap. However, he crawled into the water and disappeared. A sailor attacked the other, and enga- ged him for a long time, striking him on the head with a bludgeon, without being able to knock him down: the sailor fell down very near his antagonist, but had the dexterity to recover himself at the instant the lion was going to gorge him. Had he once seized him, the man would infallibly have been lost: the animal would have carried him into the water as they usually do their prey, and there feasted upon him. In his retreat to the sea this animal seized a penguin, and devoured him instantaneously."

Mr Pennant describes three seals of different spe- cies, which are called sea-lions, viz. the phoca leonina, or hooded seal; the phoca leonina, or bottlenose; and the beitia marina, or leonine seal. He differs in some particulars from the author just quoted; and such of our readers as desire to know these differences, we re- fer to his works.

3. The vitulina, sea-calf, or common seal, inhabits the European ocean. It has a smooth head without external ears; and the common length is from five to six feet. The fore-legs are deeply immersed in the skin of the body: the hind legs are placed in such a manner as to point directly backwards: every foot is divided into five toes; and each of those connected by a strong and broad web, covered on both sides with short hair. The toes are furnished with strong claws, well adapted to assist the animal in climbing the rocks it basks on: the claws on the hind-feet are slender and straight; except at the ends, which are a little incur- vated. The head and nose are broad and flat, like those of the otter; the neck short and thick; the eyes large and black; in lieu of external ears, it has two small orifices: the nostrils are oblong: on each side the nose are several long stiff hairs; and above each eye are a few of the same kind. The form of the tongue is so singular, that were other notes want- ing, that alone would distinguish it from all other qua- drupeds; being forked, or slit at the end. The cut- ting teeth are singular in respect to their number, be- ing six in the upper jaw, and only four in the lower. It has two canine teeth above and below, and on each side of the jaw five grinders. The total 34. The whole animal is covered with short hair, very closely set to- gether: the colour of that on the body is generally dusky, spotted irregularly with white; on the belly white: but seals vary greatly in their marks and col- ours, and some have been found entirely white.

The seal is common on most of the rocky shores of Great Britain and Ireland, especially on the northern coasts: in Wales, it frequents the coasts of Caernar- vonshire and Anglesey. They inhabit all the Euro- pean seas, even to the extreme north; are found far within the arctic circle, in the seas both of Europe and Asia, and are even continued to those of Kamtschatka.*

* Steller, in Nov. Com. Patrol, ii. 290. power of oil in stilling the waves excited by a storm is mentioned by Pliny; the moderns have made the experiment with success; and thereby made one advance towards eradicating the vulgar prejudices against that great and elegant writer.

Seals are excellent swimmers, and ready divers; and are very bold when in the sea, swimming carelessly enough about boats: their dens or lodgments are in hollow rocks or caverns near the sea, but out of the reach of the tide: in the summer they will come out of the water, to bask or sleep in the sun on the top of large stones or shivers of rocks; and that is the opportunity our countrymen take of shooting them: if they chance to escape, they hasten towards their proper element, flinging stones and dirt behind them as they scramble along; at the same time expressing their fears by piteous moans: but if they happen to be overtaken, they will make a vigorous defence with their feet and teeth till they are killed. They are taken for the sake of their skins, and for the oil their fat yields: the former sell for 4s. or 4s. 6d. a-piece; which, when dressed, are very useful in covering trunks, making waistcoats, shot-pouches, and several other conveniences. We remember some years ago to have seen a young seal in some degree domesticated. It was taken at a little distance from the sea, and was generally kept in a vessel full of salt water; but sometimes it was allowed to crawl about the house, and even to approach the fire. Its natural food was regularly procured for it, and it was taken to the sea every day and thrown in from a boat. It used to swim after the boat, and always allowed itself to be taken back. It lived thus for several weeks; and we doubt not would have lived much longer had it not been sometimes too roughly used by the boys who took it to and from the sea.

The flesh of these animals, and even of porpoises, formerly found a place at the tables of the great; as appears from the bill of fare of that vast feast that Archbishop Nevill gave in the reign of Edward IV., in which is seen that several were provided on the occasion. They couple about April, on large rocks or small islands not remote from the shore; and bring forth in those vast caverns that are frequent on our coasts: they commonly bring two at a time, which in their infant state are covered with a whitish down or woolly substance. The seal hunters in Caithness say, that their growth is so sudden, that in nine tides from their birth (12 hours) they will become as active as their parents. On the coast of that country are immense caverns opening into the sea, and running some hundreds of yards beneath the land. These are the refort of seals in the breeding time, where they continue till their young are old enough to go to sea, which is in about six or seven weeks. The first of these caves is near the Ord, the last near Thrumsier: their entrance is so narrow as only to admit a boat; their inside very spacious and lofty. In the month of October, or the beginning of November, the seal-hunters enter the mouth of the caverns about midnight, and rowing up as far as they can, they land; each of them being provided with a bludgeon, and properly stationed, they light their torches, and make a great noise, which brings down the seals from the farther end in a confused body with fearful shrieks and cries: at first the men are obliged to give way for fear of being overborne; but when the first crowd is past, they kill as many as struggle behind, chiefly the young, by striking them on the nose; a very slight blow on that part dispatches them. When the work is over, they drag the seals to the boat, which two men are left to guard. This is a most hazardous employment; for should their torches go out, or the wind blow hard from sea during their continuance in the cave, their lives are lost. The young seals of six weeks age yield more oil than their emaciated dams: above eight gallons have been got from a single whelp, which sells from 6d. to 9d. per gallon; the skins from 6d. to 1s. each.

The natural history of this animal may be further elucidated by the following extracts from a letter of the reverend Dr William Borlase, dated October the 24th 1763. "The seals are seen in the greatest plenty on the shores of Cornwall in the months of May, June, and July. They are of different sizes; some as large as a cow, and from that downwards to a small calf. They feed on most sorts of fish which they can master; and are seen searching for their prey near shore, where the whiting fish, wrasses, and pollacks, resort. They are very swift in their proper depth of water, dive like a shot, and in a trice rise at 50 yards distance; so that weaker fishes cannot avoid their tyranny except in shallow water. A person of the parish of Sennen saw not long since a seal in pursuit of a mullet (that strong and swift fish); the seal turned it to and fro in deep water, as a greyhound does a hare; the mullet at last found it had no way to escape, but by running into shoal water: the seal pursued; and the former, to get more surely out of danger, threw itself on its side, by which means it darted into shoaler water than it could have swum in with the depth of its paunch and fins, and so escaped. The seal brings her young about the beginning of autumn: our fishermen have seen two sucking their dam at the same time, as she stood in the sea in a perpendicular position. Their head in swimming is always above water, more so than that of a dog. They sleep on rocks surrounded by the sea, or on the less accessible parts of our cliffs left dry by the ebb of the tide; and if disturbed by anything, take care to tumble over the rocks into the sea. They are extremely watchful, and never sleep long without moving; seldom longer than a minute; then raise their heads, and if they hear or see nothing more than ordinary, lie down again, and so on, raising their heads a little and reclining them alternately in about a minute's time. Nature seems to have given them this precaution, as being unprovided with auricles or external ears; and consequently not hearing very quick, nor from any great distance."

These animals are so very useful to the inhabitants of Greenland and other arctic people, that they may be called their flocks. We cannot give a better account of these uses than in the words of Mr Crantz, who was long resident in those northern regions.

"Seals (says he) are more needful to them than sheep are to us, though they furnish us with food and raiment; or than the cocoa-tree is to the Indians, although that presents them not only with meat to eat, and covering for their bodies, but also houses to dwell in, and boats to sail in, so that in case of necessity they could live solely from it. The seals flesh (together with the rein-deer, which is already grown pretty..." Phoca (scarce) supplies the natives with their most palatable and substantial food. Their fat furnishes them with oil for lamp-light, chamber and kitchen fire; and whoever sees their habitations, presently finds, that if they even had a superfluity of wood, it would not do, they can use nothing but train in them. They also mollify their dry food, mostly fish, in the train; and finally, they barter it for all kinds of necessaries with the factor. They can sew better with fibres of the seals' sinews than with thread or silk. Of the skins of the entrails they make their windows, curtains for their tents, shirts, and part of the bladders they use at their harpoons; and they make train bottles of the maw. Formerly, for want of iron, they made all manner of instruments and working tools of their bones. Neither is the blood wasted, but boiled with other ingredients, and eaten as soup. Of the skin of the seal they stand in the greatest need; for, supposing the skins of rein-deer and birds would furnish them with competent clothing for their bodies, and coverings for their beds; and their flesh, together with fish, with sufficient food; and provided they could dress their meat with wood, and also new-model their house-keeping, so as to have light, and keep themselves warm with it too; yet without the seals' skins they would not be in a capacity of acquiring these same rein-deer, fowls, fishes, and wood; because they must cover over with seal-skin both their large and small boats in which they travel and seek their provision. They must also cut their thongs or straps out of them, make the bladders for their harpoons, and cover their tents with them; without which they could not subsist in summer.

"Therefore no man can pass for a right Greenlander who cannot catch seals. This is the ultimate end they aspire at, in all their device and labour from their childhood up. It is the only art (and in truth a difficult and dangerous one it is) to which they are trained from their infancy; by which they maintain themselves, make themselves agreeable to others, and become beneficial members of the community."

"The Greenlanders have three ways of catching seals: either singly, with the bladder; or in company, by the clapper-hunt; or in the winter on the ice: whereto may be added the shooting them with a gun.

"The principal and most common way is the taking them with the bladder. When the Greenlander sets out equipped, and spies a seal, he tries to surprise it unawares, with the wind and sun in his back, that he may not be heard or seen by it. He tries to conceal himself behind a wave, and makes hastily but softly up to it, till he comes within four, five, or six fathom of it; meanwhile he takes the utmost care that the harpoon, line, and bladder, lie in proper order. Then he takes hold of the oar with his left hand, and the harpoon with his right by the hand-board, and so away he throws it at the seal, in such a manner that the whole dart flies from the hand-board and leaves that in his hand. If the harpoon hits the mark, and buries itself deeper than the barbs, it will directly disengage itself from the bone-joint, and that from the shaft; and also unwind the string from its lodge on the kajak. The moment the seal is pierced, the Greenlander must throw the bladder, tied to the end of the string, into the water, on the same side as the seal runs and dives; for that he does instantly like a dart. Then the Greenlander goes and takes up the shaft swimming on the water, and lays it in its place. The seal often drags the bladder with it under water, tho' it is a considerable impediment, on account of its great bigness; but it so wearies itself out with it, that it must come up again in about a quarter of an hour to take breath. The Greenlander halts to the spot where he sees the bladder rise up, and smites the seal as soon as it appears with a great lance. This lance always comes out of its body again; but he throws it at the creature afresh every time it comes up till it is quite spent. Then he runs the little lance into it, and kills it outright, but stops up the wound directly to preserve the blood; and lastly, he blows it up, like a bladder, betwixt skin and flesh, to put it into a better capacity of swimming after him; for which purpose he fastens it to the left side of his kajak or boat.

"In this exercise the Greenlander is exposed to the most and greatest danger of his life; which is probably the reason that they call this hunt or fishery kamavvok, i.e. "the extinction," viz. of life. For if the line should entangle itself, as it easily may, in its sudden and violent motion; or if it should catch hold of the kajak, or should wind itself round the oar, or the hand, or even the neck, as it sometimes does in windy weather; or if the seal should turn suddenly to the other side of the boat, it cannot be otherwise than that the kajak must be overturned by the string, and drawn down under water. On such desperate occasions the poor Greenlander stands in need of every possible art to disentangle himself from the string, and to raise himself up from under the water several times successively; for he will continually be overturning till he has quite disengaged himself from the line. Nay, when he imagines himself to be out of all danger, and comes too near the dying seal, it may still bite him in the face or hand; and a female seal that has young, instead of flying the field, will sometimes fly at the Greenlander in the most vehement rage, and do him a mischief, or bite a hole in his kajak that he must sink.

"In this way, singly, they can kill none but the careless stupid seal called attarfoak. Several in company must pursue the cautious kassigiaq by the clapper-hunt. In the same manner they also surround and kill the attarfoak in great numbers at certain seasons of the year; for in autumn they retire into the creeks or inlets in stormy weather, as in the Nepifet found in Ball's river, between the main land and the island Kangek, which is full two leagues long, but very narrow. There the Greenlanders cut off their retreat, and frighten them under water by shouting, clapping, and throwing stones; but as they must come up again continually to draw breath, then they persecute them again till they are tired, and at last are obliged to stay so long above water that they surround them, and kill them with a kind of dart for the purpose. During this hunt we have a fine opportunity to see the agility of the Greenlanders, or, if I may call it so, their huslar-like manoeuvres. When the seal rises out of the water, they all fly upon it as if they had wings, with a desperate noise; the poor creature is forced to dive again directly; and the moment he does they dif- perse again as fast as they came, and every one gives heed to his post to see where it will start up again; which is an uncertain thing, and is commonly three quarters of a mile from the former spot. If a seal has a good broad water, three or four leagues each way, it can keep the sportmen in play for a couple of hours before it is so spent that they can surround and kill it. If the seal in its fright betakes itself to the land for a retreat, it is welcomed with sticks and stones by the women and children, and presently pierced by the men in the rear. This is a very lively and a very profitable diversion for the Greenlanders, for many times one man will have eight or ten seals for his share.

"The third method of killing seals upon the ice is mostly practised in Disko, where the bays are frozen over in the winter. There are several ways of proceeding. The seals themselves make sometimes holes in the ice, where they come and draw breath; near such a hole a Greenlander seats himself on a stool, putting his feet on a lower one to keep them from the cold. Now when the seal comes and puts its nose to the hole, he pierces it instantly with his harpoon; then breaks the hole larger, and draws it out and kills it quite. Or a Greenlander lays himself upon his belly on a kind of a sledge, near other holes, where the seals come out upon the ice to bask themselves in the sun. Near this great hole they make a little one, and another Greenlander puts a harpoon into it with a very long shaft or pole. He that lies upon the ice looks into the great hole, till he sees a seal coming under the harpoon; then he gives the other the signal, who runs the seal through with all his might.

"If the Greenlander sees a seal lying near its hole upon the ice, he slides along upon his belly towards it, wags his head, and grunts like a seal; and the poor seal, thinking it is one of its innocent companions, lets him come near enough to pierce it with his long dart. When the current wears a great hole in the ice in the spring, the Greenlanders plant themselves all round it, till the seals come in droves to the brim to fetch breath, and then they kill them with their harpoons. Many also are killed on the ice while they lie sleeping and snoring in the sun."

To this long quotation, which we think both curious and interesting, we shall subjoin the following observations of Mr Pennant, which are not less worthy of attention.

"Nature (says this intelligent writer) has been so niggardly in providing variety of provision for the Greenlanders, that they are necessitated to have recourse to such which is offered to them with a liberal hand. The Kamtschatkan nations, which enjoy several animals, as well as a great and abundant choice of fish, are so enamoured with the taste of the fat of seals, that they can make no feast without making it one of the dishes. Of that both Russians and Kamtschatkans make their candles. The latter eat the flesh boiled, or else dried in the sun. If they have a great quantity, they preserve it in the following manner:

"They dig a pit of a requisite depth, and pave it with stones; then fill it with wood, and set it on fire so as to heat the pit to the warmth of a stove. They then collect all the cinders into a heap. They strew the bottom with the green wood of alder, on which they place separately the flesh and the fat, and put between every layer branches of the same tree; when the pit is filled they cover it with sods, so that the vapour cannot escape. After some hours they take out both fat and flesh, and keep it for winter's provisions, and they may be preserved a whole year without spoiling.

"The Kamtschatkans have a most singular ceremony. After they take the flesh from the heads of the seals, they bring a vessel in form of a canoe, and fling into it all the skulls, crowned with certain herbs, and place them on the ground. A certain person enters the habitation with a sack filled with tonchitche, sweet herbs, and a little of the bark of willow. Two of the natives then roll a great stone towards the door, and cover it with pebbles; two others take the sweet herbs and dispose them, tied in little packets. The great stone is to signify the sea-shore, the pebbles the waves, and the packets seals. They then bring three dishes of a hash called tolkoucha: of this they make little balls, in the middle of which they stick the packets of herbs; of the willow-bark they make a little canoe, and fill it with tolkoucha, and cover it with the sack. After some time the two Kamtschatkans, who had put the mimic seals into the tolkoucha, take the balls, and a vessel resembling a canoe, and draw it along the sand as if it was on the sea, to convince the real seals how agreeable it would be to them to come among the Kamtschatkans, who have a sea in their very jorts or dwellings. And this they imagine will induce the seals to suffer themselves to be taken in great numbers. Various other ceremonies, equally ridiculous, are practised; in one of which they invoke the winds, which drive the seals on their shores, to be propitious.

"Besides the uses which are made of the flesh and fat of seals, the skins of the largest are cut into soles for shoes. The women make their summer boots of the undressed skins, and wear them with the hair outmost. In a country which abounds so greatly in furs, very little more use is made of the skins of seals in the article of dress than what has been mentioned. But the Koriaks, the Oloutores, and Tchutichi, form with the skins canoes and vessels of different sizes, some large enough to carry thirty people.

"Seals swarm on all the coasts of Kamtschatka, and will go up the rivers eighty versts in pursuit of fish. The Tungus give the milk of these animals to their children instead of physic. The navigators observed abundance of seals about Bering's island, but that they decreased in numbers as they advanced towards the straits; for where the walruses abounded, the seals grew more and more scarce.

"I did not observe any seal-skin garments among those brought over by the navigators, such as one might have expected among the Esquimaux of the high latitudes they visited, and which are so much in use with those of Hudson's Bay and Labrador. That species of dress doubtless was worn in the earliest times. These people wanted their historians; but we are assured that the Massagetae clothed themselves in the skins of seals. They, according to D'Anville, inhabited the country to the east of the Caspian sea, and the lake Aral, both of which waters abound with seals.

"Seals are now become a great article of commerce. The oil from the vast whales is no longer equal to the demand for supplying the magnificent profusion of..." lamps in and round our capital. The chase of these animals is redoubled for that purpose; and the skins, properly tanned, are in considerable use in the manufactory of boots and shoes."

4. The phoca barbata, or great seal, has long white whiskers with curled points. The back is arched; hair black, very deciduous, and very thinly dispersed over a thick skin, which is almost naked in summer. The teeth of this species are like those of the common seal; the fore feet are like the human hand, the middle toe being the longest and the thumb short. They are upwards of 12 feet long.

The inhabitants of Greenland cut out of the skin of this species thongs and lines, a finger-thick, for the seal-fishery. Its flesh is as white as veal, and is esteemed the most delicate of any. They produce plenty of lard, but very little oil. The skins of the young are sometimes used to lie on.—It inhabits the high sea about Greenland, is very timid, and commonly rests on the floating ice. It breeds about the month of March, and brings forth a single young on the ice, generally among the islands; for then it approaches a little nearer to the land. The great old ones swim very slowly.

On the northern coast of Scotland is found a seal twelve feet long. A young one, seven feet and a half long, was shown in London some years ago, which was so far from maturity as to have scarcely any teeth: yet the common seals have them complete before they attain the size of six feet, their utmost growth.

A species larger than an ox was found in the Kamchatkan seas from 56 to 64 north latitude, called by the natives lachtak. They weighed 800 pounds, and were eaten by Bering's crew; but their flesh was very loathsome. The cubs are entirely black.

Steller has given accounts of other seals found in those wild seas; but his descriptions are so very imperfect as to render it impossible to ascertain the species. He speaks in his MSS. of a middle sized kind, wholly and most elegantly spotted; of another which is black with brown spots, having the belly of a yellowish white, and as large as a yearling ox. He mentions a third species, black, and with a particular formation of the hinder legs; and a fourth of a yellowish colour, with a great circle on it of the colour of cherries.

5. The phoca fustida, or rough seal, is distinguished by a short nose and short round head; a body almost elliptical, covered with lard almost to the hind feet. This species seldom if ever exceeds four feet in length. Their hairs are closely set together, soft, long, and somewhat erect, intermixed with curled. They are of a dusky colour, mixed with white, which sometimes variea to white, with a dusky dorsal line.

This species never frequents the high seas, but keeps on the fixed ice in the remote bays near the frozen land; and when old never forsakes its haunts. They couple in June, and bring forth in January on the fixed ice, its proper element. In that cold situation they have a hole for the benefit of fishing; near which they generally remain solitary, being rarely found in pairs. They are very incautious, and often sleep on the surface of the water, by which means they become an easy prey to the eagle. They feed on small fish, shrimps, &c. The skin, tendons, and lard, are used in the same way with those of other seals. The flesh is red and fetid, especially in males, which is nauseated even by the inhabitants of Greenland.

The seal-hunters in Newfoundland have a larger kind, which they call the square phipper, and which weight 500 pounds. Its coat is like that of a water-dog; so that it appears by the length of its hair to be allied to this species; but the vast difference in size admits not of certainty in this respect.

6. The phoca leporina, or leporine seal, has hair of a dirty white colour, tinged with yellow, but never spotted. The hairs are erect, interwoven, and soft like those of a hare, especially in the young. The head is long; the upper lip swelling and thick; the whiskers very strong and very thick, ranged in rows, covering the whole front of the lip, so that it appears bearded; the eyes are blue, and the pupil of them black; the teeth are strong; the fore feet are short; the membranes of the hind feet are even and not waved; the tail is short and thick, it being four inches two lines in length; the cubs are of a milk white colour. The length of the species is about five feet six inches, and the circumference where greatest five feet two.

This species inhabits the White Sea in the summer time, and ascends and descends the mouths of rivers with the tide in quest of prey. It is likewise found on the coasts of Iceland, and within the polar circle from Spitzbergen to Tchukti Nefs, and from thence southward about Kamtschatka.

There are several other species of this genus, and a variety of curious particulars respecting them, which our limits permit us not to give. Such of our readers, however, as wish for further information on this subject, will find themselves amply gratified by a careful perusal of what Mr Pennant has written on the subject, from whose labours we have extracted much of our article. See his History of Quadrupeds, Vol. II. p. 518—536. His Arctic Zoology, Vol. I. p. 151—177, and his British Zoology, as also the several authors whose works he quotes.