Seals are hunted by the Greenlanders for the sake of their oil, and also for their skins, which are used for making waistcoats and other articles of clothing, and are much prized by the fishermen for their great warmth. The oil, of which a full grown specimen yields four or five gallons, is very clear and transparent, and destitute of the unpleasant odour and taste of whale-oil. When attacked, they fight with great fury; but when taken young, are capable of being tamed; they will follow their master like a dog, and come to him when called by the name given to them. Some years ago a young Seal was thus 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 carried 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 probably would have lived much longer, had it not been sometimes too roughly handled. The females in this climate bring forth in winter, and rear their young upon some sand-bank, rock, or desolate island, at some distance from the main land. When they suckle their young, they sit up on their hinder legs, while the little Seals, which are at first white, with woolly hair, cling to the teats, which are four in number. In this manner the young continue in the place where they are brought forth for twelve or fifteen days; after which the dam brings them down to the water, and accustoms them to swim and get their food by their own industry. In Newfoundland the Seal-fishery forms an important source of wealth, and numerous ships are sent out every season among the ice in search of Seals. One ship has been known to catch five thousand Seals, but about half that number is the usual quantity taken. As soon as the Seal is killed, it is skinned, and the pelt, as the skin and blubber together is called, being preserved, the body of the Seal is either eaten by the sailors, or left on the ice for the polar bears. The aboriginal inhabitants of the northern regions have several strange superstitions about Seals. They believe that Seals delight in thunder-storms; and say, that during these times they will sit on the rocks, and contemplate, with apparent pleasure and gratification, the convulsion of the elements. The Icelanders, in particular, are said to believe that these animals are the offspring of _Pharaoh_ and his host, who were converted into Seals when they were overwhelmed in the _Red Sea_.