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however, taken on the ice or in the Seal frames-traps set principally along the
Labrador coast to catch P. vitulma. My friend Mr, Hesketh Prichard visited
Labrador in September 1903, and as he sailed north made inquiries and examined
the skins of Seals, with which he is well acquainted. After a month spent with
the Pcg'.ima„y near Davis Inlet, his conclusions as to the distribution of this
animal on those coasts are as follows:
‘ The Grey Seal {H. grypus) occurs in small numbers along the coast of
Labrador. The Eskimo have a special name for this Seal, apa, but as far as I
could learn know little of its breeding-places. I have myself seen a Grey Seal at
the mouth of a river that empties itself into the western extremity of Jack Lane’s
Bay. This bay is about twenty miles from Davis Inlet. There is no doubt that
the less accurate of the Eskimo hunters often confound this Seal with the
‘‘ Square F lip p e r o r Bearded Seal, for which, however, the Eskimo name is ukjuk,
the young being called terrigluk. The testimony of the Eskimo as to its northern
range is as follows. Those whom I questioned told me that it ranged as far
north as they themselves had been, i.e. to Okkak, about 58° north lat. This was
the furthest point at which they had killed the Grey Seal, but they declared it
was to be met with further north, some said in greater numbers. They gave no
opinion on the flesh of this Seal, but waxed eloquent concerning the skins, which
are more prized by them than those of any other species of Seal for making
tents. A trapper, Samuel Bloomfield, told me that among the white settlers the
Grey Seal was known as the hodge, and was very rare. He had killed specimens
in Jack Lane’s Bay, one in November some years ago.’
As to Newfoundland, I have, after some trouble, traced the distribution of the
species round that island. It is only a rare visitor to the south, west, and southeastern
bays of the island, but becomes numerous up in the north-east, about
White Bay. This is due to the presence of a large colony which breeds on the
most isolated of the Groais Islands (called in Newfoundland the Grey Islands).
I think the reader would have smiled if he had seen the author of this volume
sitting on the shore of Conception Bay one frosty morning in October, and
arguing with two Roman Catholic priests and seven fishermen Seal-hunters about
the breeding season of the Grey Seal. These two holy fathers lived on the
shores of White Bay, and assured me by all the saints that they had
taken newly born ‘ Square Flippers’ off the ice in spring, and had killed the
mothers. I laughed at this, and they appealed to the Seal-hunters, who at once
sided with the priests, and doubtless regarded me as an ignoramus about Seals.
It is wonderful how unobservant men can be about animals, even when these
live at their very doors. They could not recognise any difference between the
two species, the Grey and the Bearded Seal.
The Grey Seal is supposed by various writers to visit West Greenland, but
its presence there is not yet substantially confirmed.1 From what the master of a
Norwegian brig, who has twice visited East Greenland after polar bear and muskox,
told me, a few of these Seals follow the herds of Harp Seals to the coast of
East Greenland during the summer. These are probably immatures or wanderers
from the Icelandic colonies on the coasts of Westland or the Bredebugt where
they have long been known to breed. My guide in Iceland in 1892, Thorgrimmer
Gudmandsen, also mentioned a series of skerries lying close to the shore about
sixty miles north-west of Reikavick frequented by the ‘ Ut-sel ’ (Grey Seal).
The Grey Seal frequents the Faroes and breeds in many of the sea-caves on
the west side. The late Herr Muller, the Sysselmund of the Faroes, who
probably knew more about the natural history of these islands than any other
man, could not tell me of any regular rock haunt where the species was
gregarious.
How far north and east along the coasts of Scandinavia: and Russia the
Grey Seal ranges is not known, but being a purely rock-loving species it is not
likely that its visits extend to Spitzbergen or the Russian Islands. Collett
mentions that it is found all <along the coast of Norway2 from latitude 58° to
70°; but Tromso, where it was observed by Lillieborg in 1848, is probably its
northern limit. Mr. Hans Waag who lives in the Lofodens tells me that it constantly
visits those islands and Mr. Robert Collett has given8 a long and
interesting account of the breeding of these animals on the Fro Islands at the
mouth of the Trondhjeim Fjord. He also mentions the Vigten Islands on the
borders of Helgeland as another station. In winter the Grey Seal visits the
Cattegat, the Baltic (where it is said to breed at Gotska Sanden), and the Gulf of
Bothnia; it has been taken so far south as the coast of Germany.
1 The utmost confusion still exists amongst Sealmen, even such experienced men as the old Newfoundland captains.
Captains Blandford and Jackman have both assured me of the abundance of the Square Flipper (in this case the Grey Seal of
Newfoundland) along the west coast of Greenland, as far north as Davis Straits. They say it frequents the ice floes, and
places its young on the ice in spring. Their observations plainly refer to the Bearded Seal. ‘ Square Flipper ’ is the name
used for both species in Newfoundland and Labrador, and they are there considered by all except a very few to be the same
animal.
2 Two good specimens of adult males, of about 8 feet in length, and in the grey and black spotted coat, are in the
museum at Bergen. They were both taken on the Island of Hitteren.
3 Proceedings Zool. Soc. iSSi, pp. 380-387.