caught one of them, and crushed it to death with its fore-paw. By this time, the men came up. One of them thrust a harpoon toward him.

same moment, one of the men shot it in the head, and it fell dead upon the spot.

This creature was of prodigious size; it weighed at least six or seven hundred pounds; and, when sitting upon its haunches, it had been a good deal taller than a man.

After this adventure, the whale ship continued

along the coast for some time. The fishermen frequently saw some of the Greenlanders, or people of that part of North America which is called Greenland; and, one day, the captain of the vessel paid a visit to their huts. These were built of stone and turf, and were partly under ground.

The people were very short, and extremely ugly. They seemed to be very far from neat or clean in their habits; and the smell of putrid fish in their houses was such as to make the captain sick at his stomach.

I have often thought, that if young people who are dainty in their appetites, could only see with what a relish the inhabitants of this part of the world eat tainted fish, it would make them ashamed of turning up their noses, as they sometimes do, at plain wholesome food, that is not quite to their mind.

The Greenlanders subsist almost entirely upon seals. They are very expert in catching these

animals. It is the greatest pride of a Greenlander to be a good seal-catcher. One day, as the ship was lying near the coast, the fishermen had a good opportunity of seeing a Greenlander engaged in his favourite occupation.

It was a stormy day, and the waves were running very high. There were, also, several tremendous ice-islands in the vicinity. But, fearless of danger, the Greenlander came out upon the water, and waited patiently for a seal to appear. His canoe was very light, and covered over the top by skins. In the centre was a hole, through which he sat in the bottom of the boat.

He held in his right hand a light harpoon, to which a string was attached. At the end of this string was a seal-skin bag, blown up like a bladder. After sitting in his canoe for some time, where he was tossed and whirled about like a piece of cork, a seal lifted its head above the water, close to his canoe.

In an instant, the fisherman drew back his harpoon, and then hurled it at the seal with great skill and swiftness. It entered the flesh

of the animal, which immediately plunged into the water, carrying with it the harpoon, the string, and the bladder attached to it. These were all drawn under water by the seal, and for some time they were out of view.

How do the Greenlanders catch seals?

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By and by, the Greenlander saw the bladder rise on the water, at some distance. He immediately paddled his canoe along to the spot, knowing that the seal was coming up there to breathe. As the animal appeared on the surface he struck him with another harpoon. creature descended a little way into the water; but it was now exhausted; and, in a few minutes it rose on the surface, being quite dead. The Greenlander then fastened it, with a string, to the end of his canoe, and paddled with it to the shore. Here I can show you the figure of a seal.