1.The other day I went to see a curious family.There were seven babies in it.None of them was more than two months old；and yet there was no mother to nurse them，no father，not even a big sister to take care of them.
2.When I went into their house，they were swimming about in deep salt water；but as these babies were young seals，there was nothing strange in that.A little hollow of the sea，a kind of small gulf or bay，had been shut in to form a home for them.
3.There was plenty of room for them to swim about，and at low tide they could climb up on a rocky ledge ，and baskin the sunshine or go to sleep；for seals，asyou know，can live both in water and on land.They must come up to the surface to breathe，but they keep their round black nostrils closed tightly when they dive under the water.
4.I sat for a long time upon the rocky ledge watching the little creatures.They were only about two feet long；but young as they were，they could swim perfectly.They played and tumbled about merrily，throwing theirflippers，or fore-paws，round each other，as children sometimes do with their arms when rolling on the grass.
5.If my seven little friends had not been so young，they would not have been caught in the net set for them.
Their keeper told me that old seals are very wary.Theykeep away from the nets，and try to prevent their young ones from going near.He said he，had known a mother-seal tear his net to tatters to get her baby out.
6.It was great fun looking at these water-babies.One of them seemed to be trying to show me how clever he was.He would come swiftly towards me，swimming under the water on his back；but he always turned and rose gracefully to the surface as he drew near the ledge.As he swam off he would look over his shoulder at me，as much as to say，“Didn’t I do thatwell？”
7.Another crawled up the rock to my very feet，and looked at me with his large，gentle，beautiful eyes.He had little whiskers，like a cat‘s；and，indeed，he looked so like a nice pussy that I was going to pat him on the head，when the keeper cried，“Take care！take care！they bite like little tigers.”
8.Some of them sat up straight in the water on their tails.At first sight they seemed to have three tails；but two of these were only their hind-limbs，which stretch outbehind and serve as paddles to help them on，or rather as rudders to guide them when they are swimming.
9.One of them stood on his head on the rock under water，rubbing his nose with his flipper.But the drollestsight was to see one little fellow sit up in thewater and scratch his ear，or rather the side of his head；for these seals had no ears that could be seen on the outside，although they could hear quite well.
10.They used their flippers to rub themselves with；and as these flippers are like little hands when not opened out for swimming，it looked exactly as if they were combing out their hair.
