e they lined up just outside the surf, their sleek heads
glossy with the wet, their calm, soft eyes fixed unblinkingly on us.

It was useless to shoot them in the water: they sank at once.

When, however, we succeeded in gaining an advantageous position, it
was necessary to shoot with extreme accuracy. A bullet directly
through the back of the head would kill cleanly. A hit anywhere else
was practically useless, for even in death the animals seemed to
retain enough blind instinctive vitality to flop them into the water.
There they were lost.

Each rookery consisted of one tremendous bull who officiated
apparently as the standing army; a number of smaller bulls, his direct
descendants; the cows, and the pups. The big bull held his position
by force of arms. Occasionally other, unattached, bulls would come
swimming by. On arriving opposite the rookery the stranger would utter
a peculiar challenge. It was never refused by the resident champion,
who promptly slid into the sea, and engaged battle. If he conquered,
the stranger went on his way. If, however, the stranger won, the big
bull immediately struck out to sea, abandoning his rookery, while the
new-comer swam in and attempted to make his title good with all the
younger bulls. I have seen some fierce combats out there in the blue
water. They gashed each other deep----

You can see by this how our hunting was never at an end. On Tuesday
we would kill the boss bull of a certain establishment. By Thursday,
at latest, another would be installed.

I learned curious facts about seals in those days. The hunting did
not appeal to me particularly, because it seemed to me useless to kill
so large an animal for so small a spoil. Still, it was a means to my
all-absorbing end, and I confess that the stalking, the lying belly
down on the sun-warmed grass over the surge and under the clear sky,
was extremely pleasant. While awaiting the return of the big bull often
we had opportunity to watch the others at their daily affairs, and
even the unresponsive Thrackles was struck with their almost human
intelligence. Did you know that seals kiss each other, and weep tears
when grieved?

The men often discussed among themselves the narrow, dry cave. There
the animals were practically penned in. They agreed that a great
killing could be made there, but the impossibility of distinguishing
between the bulls and the cows deterred them. The cave was quite dark.

Immerced in our own affairs