Hundreds and even thousands of them were disporting themselves in the sunlight. Some were lying asleep while others were flopping about on their flippers, much like boys playing leap frog.
Oumauk was wild with delight when his father showed him a seal pup[1]. It was snow white to match the snow and hide it from its enemies, and about a foot long. It would have weighed about seven pounds. It was not shaped like much of anything in particular, but was a soft slippery mass of fat, covered with a wonderfully soft fur. When Eiseeyou took it up and placed it in little Oumauk's arms, it bleated like a small lamb and squirmed about to get away. The bleating of the mothers also sounded much like the lowing of young heifers.
Eiseeyou pointed out several sly foxes that scampered away at their approach. He told Oumauk that the foxes and the polar bears, like Whitie, followed the seals to these breeding grounds, killing the seal pups and eating them. At this, Oumauk was very indignant.
Presently the mother of the seal pup which they were fondling came bleating up out of the water, and Eiseeyou hastily placed it on the ground and took Oumauk to a little distance to watch the meeting between the pup and the mother.
The mother greeted the pup with several queer sounds all low and tender and nosed it over from head to tail to see if it had been injured. When she had satisfied herself that it was all right, both lay down in the sunshine and slept.
Further on in the island Eiseeyou pointed out several old bull seals sleeping in a warm place. He set Oumauk on a nearby rock while he himself went to awaken a large bull so that the Eskimo boy might get a better idea of him.
This old chap seemed to be the grandfather of the whole herd. He was about seven feet in length and would have weighed about seven hundred pounds. This was an extreme size for the seal.
When Eiseeyou went up to him and prodded him in the side with his paddle, he lifted his large head and bellowed mightily, but made no move to attack the Eskimo. Finally he aroused himself enough to look at Eiseeyou sideways. He seemed much perplexed by this creature which stood erect instead of on four flippers. Finally he got up and started slowly towards Eiseeyou, who then retreated to the rock where Oumauk watched. The Eskimo boy was much terrified at the approach of so mighty a creature, but Eiseeyou assured him that the seal was very clumsy on the land and it would be easy to elude him.