AN EXHIBITION SEAL.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XVII, Issue 2239, 14 August 1907, Page 2

AN EXHIBITION SEAL.

DISCOVERED OX WAIHI

BEACH.

EXCITING EXPERIENCE.

An exciting incident, bristling "^ with noveltj', occurred the other day at the Waihi beach. Some men were proceeding along the shire towards the Bo wen town Heads, when they espied a large seal basking in the sun, some distance out of the water. A strategic movement whs immediately made between the water and the seal, no doubt with the design of cutting off a retreat, if attempted. A closer investigation was then made, but, to the surprise of the adventurers, the seal was found to be perfegtly docile, and permitted itself to bo touched without showing signs ' of resentment. Tho natural qonclusion wss then arrived at, that the visitor was one of tho exhibition seals,- taking- a cruise along the coast in search of fresh fields and pastures new. Some of these seals have already been met with, so the conclusion was a very feasible one-^at any rate- it remains an open question. A consultation was held, and it was decided to induce the seal to " come along quietly without any fuss." The visitor, howover, would not budge, and the finders, knowing more about capturing horses than seal fishing, attempted to lassoo the exhibition representative, with the intention of taking it captive to the camp. The result was ludicrous, and even humiliating, and the scene which ensued would have supplied a first-class subject for an enterprising cinematographer. Instead of tb,e fie^l becoming captive • j;o the men, the men became the caotiyes qf the sea]—r^ reyera(j of the fortunes of war always probable on such occasions. The seal, seeing no exhibition building in the immediate distance, evidently came to the conclusion that caution was necessary under the circumstances, and accordingly proceeded towards the sea, whence he came, accompanied, at the extreme end of the rope, by the intrepid sealers of the Waihi beach. It was the sealers' turn now to become anxious as to the ultimate result, and, accepting as a truism to be acted upon the old advice that "discretion is the better part of valour," they parted company with the seal — and the rope. The remainder of the journey w*s accompanied with disconsolate yisipns of what might have been. In the meantime, i$ anyone happens on a s|;ra.y seal with a rope collar round its neck, they will oblige if they return it to the Waihi beach.—Waihi Telegraph.