Seal, s. A stamp engraved with a particular impression, which is fixed upon wax; the seacalf, or phoca.
Seals are very numerous on the coast, and at this season a number may be seen any warm day you make an excursion up the Sound of Achil. We shoot them occasionally; the skin makes a waterproof covering, and the fat affords an excellent oil for many domestic purposes. It is difficult, however, to secure the animal, for numbers are shot and few gotten. The head is the only place to strike them, for even when mortally wounded in the body, they generally manage to escape. This fact we have ascertained, from finding them dead on shore many days after they were wounded, and at a considerable distance from the place where they had received the bullet. I shot one last autumn at the mouth of the river, and a fortnight afterwards he was taken up in the neighbourhood of Dhuhill. There could be no doubt as to the identity of the creature, for on opening him to extract the oil, a rifle-ball, such as I use, of the unusually small size of fifty-four to the pound, was found lodged in his lungs. Unless when killed outright, they sink instantly; and I have seen the sea dyed with blood to an extent that proved how severely the seal had been wounded, but never could trace him farther.
Formerly, when seal-oil and skins were of value, some persons on the coast made the pursuit of the animal a profession. There is one of these persons living near the Sound, a miserable, dwarfish, red-bearded wretch, whom you would consider hardly equal to grapple with a salmon, and yet he secures more seals than any hunter in the district. His method of effecting it is singular; he uses neither gun nor spear, but kills the animal with a short bludgeon, loaded at the end with lead.
Adjacent to the seal-killer’s residence there is a large rock, uncovered at half-tide, and this appears the most favourite haunt for the animal to bask upon. The rock is easily approached from the main land, and on a sunny day, when the wind favours the attempt, the hunter, undressed, and armed with his bludgeon, silently winds among the stones, and steals upon his sleeping prey. Wary as the creature is, the Red Dwarf seldom fails in surprising him, and with astonishing expertness generally despatches him with a single blow.—Wild Sports.
Seamew, s. A fowl that frequents the sea; one of the gull tribe.
Sear, v. To burn, to cauterise.
Secondary, s. In ornithology, the second feather in the wing.
Sedge, s. A growth of narrow flags, a narrow flag.
Sedgy, a. Overgrown with narrow flags.
Seer, s. A gunlock spring.