The sea horse or morse has the shape of a seal, though much larger and
stronger. He has five claws on each of his feet, as the seal: his head
rounder and larger. His skin is an inch thick, especially about the
neck, very rough, rugged and wrinkled, covered with a short, brown, and
sometimes reddish, or mouse-coloured hair. Out of his upper jaw there
grow two large teeth or tusks, bended downwards over the under jaw, of
the length of half a yard, and sometimes of a whole yard and more. These
tusks are esteemed as much as elephants’ teeth; they are compact and
solid, but hollow towards the root. His mouth is not unlike that of a
bull, covered above and beneath with strong bristles as big as a straw:
his nostrils are placed above his mouth, as those of the seal: his eyes
are fiery red, which he can turn on all sides, not being able to turn
his head, by reason of the shortness and thickness of his neck. The tail
resembles a seal’s tail, being thick and short: his fat is like hog’s
lard. He lies commonly upon the ice shoals, and can live a good while on
shore, till hunger drives him back into the seas; his nourishment being
both herbs and fishes: he snores very loud, when he sleeps; and when he
is provoked to anger, he roars like a mad bull. It is a very bold and
fierce creature, and they assist each other, when attacked, to the
last. He is continually at war with the white bear, to whom he often
proves too hard with his mighty tusks, and often kills him, or at least
does not give over till they both expire.
The seals are of different sorts and sizes, though in their shape they
all agree, excepting the clap-myss, so called from a sort of a cap he
has on his head, with which he covers it when he fears a stroke. The
paws of a seal have five claws, joined together with a thick skin, like
that of a goose or a water fowl: his head resembles a dog’s with cropped
ears, from whence he has got the name of sea dog: his snout is bearded
like that of a cat: his eyes are large and clear with hair about them:
the skin is covered with a short hair of divers colours, and spotted;
some white and black, others yellowish, others again reddish, and some
of a mouse colour: his teeth are very sharp and pointed. Although he
seems lamish behind, yet he makes nothing of getting up upon the ice
hills, where he loves to sleep and to bask himself in the sun. The
largest seals are from five to eight feet in length; their fat yields
better train-oil than that of any other fish. This is the most common of
all the sea animals in Greenland; and contributes the most to the
subsisting and maintaining of the inhabitants, who feed upon the flesh
of it, and clothe themselves with the skin, which likewise serves them
for the covering of their boats and tents: the fat is their fuel, which
they burn in their lamps, and also boil their victuals with.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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