Year: 1871

characteristics Of the Seal


Very striking is the resemblance which


certain varieties Of seals bear to the hui


man form. Their heads, perfectly round


and bald, their large bright eyes, full OF


intelligence and tender feelings, their full


beard on both sides Of the face and their


broad shoulders give TO the upper part OF


their body startling likeness, such as, in


the foggy atmosphere of the Northern


seas, and with predisposition TO see what


people expected to see, may very well have


led to u sincere conviction that they were


human beings. To this must be added


their merry, playful disposition, and the


peculiar manner in which they hold them


selves perfectly upright when gamboling


in the water. Naturally harmless, and


even timid, they have habit of following


the small boats that 60 on shore, and of


observing attentively all that is done and


if the crew remains longer at one and the


same place, they become familiar and fond


Of their company. They learn to know


the people living on the shore near their


playground, so that, in Corsica, focks Of


them follow the fishing boats, and modest


ly content themselves with the fish rejected


after the nets have been hauled in There


can be little doubt that this intimacy has
given rise to an account given by Pliny of
a scene daily enacted near the town of
Mines, in southern France and as here
truth and fiction meet sn striking relation
to each other, we insert the words Of the
great naturalist At 4 certain period Of
the year a prodigious number Of midets
make their way to the sea through a mar
row mouth of swamp called Latera.
These fish choose the moment Of the in
coming tide, which prevents the stretching
out Of nets and the taking them in vast
quantities BY a similar instinct they
turn at once toward the open sea- and has
ten to escape from the only place in which
they are liable to be caught The inhabi-
tants who know the period Of this migra-
tion, and enjoy the pleasure of the sport,
assemble ou the shore. Spectators and
fishermen, all cry aloud, Simo Simo


Immediately the dolphins know that they
are needed, The north wind carries the
sound Of the voice to them. But whatever
it may be, these faithful allies never fail
to appear at once. One might imagine it
was an army, which instantly takes up its
position in the opening where the action is
to take place They close the outlet to
the mullets, who take fright, and throw
themselves into shallow water. Then the
fishermen surround them with their nets.


But the mullets, with wonderful agility,
leap over them. Now the dolphins fall
upon them, and, content for the moment
with having killed them, wait to devour
them when the victory Is assured. The
action goes on, and, pressing the enemy
closer and closer, the dolphins allow them
selves to be imprisoned with the mullets,
and, in order not to frighten them into
desperate acts they glide stealthily between
the boats, the nets, and the swimming fish
ermcn, 50 at to leave no passage open.
When all are taken, they devour those
they have killed. But knowing that they
have labored hard enough to deserve more
than Il single days wages, they reappear
on the morrow, and not only receive as
many fish as they desire, but are fed with
bread soaked in wine u?


The talents of the seal are manifold,
from the agility which he displays in
catching fish for his master to the capaci-
ty he has shown in learning actually TO
speak More than one seal has been taught
to utter distinctly the word papa, and sew
eral animals Of the kind are reported to
have gone even beyond, and to have pro-
nounced several words at a time Nor
must their love of music be forgotten,
which Is so great that they will rise from
the water, and remain standing nearly
upright as long as the instrument is played,
to which they listen with unmistakable
pleasure. 1t is not SO very long since one
Of th's remarkable race came every day
for six weeks from the waters Of the Med
iterranean, to take her rest under the di-
vanof a custom house officer in Smyrna.
The latter had tanned her, and placed
few rough planks, at a distance Of about
three feet from the waters edge, under his
couch and on these boards the seal loved
to rest for several hours, giving vent to her
delight, oddly enough, in a pTofusion of
sighs like those of suffering man. She |
ate readily the rice and the bread which /
were offered her, though she seemed to
to swallow it with ease. After /
an absence Of several days the affectionate
creature reappeared with young one un-
der her arm, but month later she plunged
one day, frightened, into the water, and
was never seen again.


Nearly about the same time another seal
appeared suddenly in the very midst of
the port Of Constantinople, undisturbed by
the number Of caiques dashing to and fro,
and the noise of thousand vessels, with
their crews and their passengers. One /
day the boat of the French legation was
crossing over to Peru, loaded with wine |
for the ambassador. a drunken sailor /
was sitting astride on the cask, and sing +
ing boisterously, when all of a sudden the .
seal raised himself out of the water, seized /
the sailor with his left arm, and threw
himself with his prey back into the waves.
He reappeared at some distance, still hold
ing the man under his fin, as if wishing to
display his agility, and then sank once
more, the frightened, sobered sailor to
make his way back to the boat. Surely
nothing more than one such occurrence was
needed to give rise to the many romances
Of former ages it the same even had hap
pened in earlier days, the seal would have
been beautiful Nereid, who having con-
eeived passion for the hapless sailor, had
risen to take him down to her palace M
Ter the waves.