The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1869-08-05

combined democratic vote was 2,213, 927. In
1864, with none of the southern states voting
and bayonets interfering i'll many Of the north
crn states, the democratic vote l,Sl1,754 IN
1868, with large number of white men dis
flanchiscd. Seymour had vote of 2,7O6 ,631.
nearly half 4 million larger than the vote for
Lincoln in 1864. The democratic party may
be dying. but it multiplics its strength amaz-
ingly.
SEALS.
There are about thirty species Of seals at
present known to natural>ts but Of these not
one-half are ''lur seals" The chair seals"
are, however, hunted for their blubbcr and
hides out of which leather is malc they are
only found,i in northern attitudes, while the fur
seals are confined TO the southern regions and
to the North Pacific, no species yielding val
uable fur skins being found in the Atlantic. or
on the shores of the northern hemisphere
There is. therefore, a Northern and South
ern seal fishery. so called; but in reality the
seal, though living in the sea far as is nee
essary to obtain its food, is not a fish, but 4
warm blooled Sucl-givin@ animal, belonging
to the order Pnnipedia, or oar-tootcd mann
mails, and passes the greater portion of its
time sleeping on the shore or on the ice fields.
The seals also inhahit the southern coast of
Europe and the British islands but ii is only
in high northern latiudeS. among the ice fields
Of Newfoundland, Spitzbergcn. and Green
land, that they are found in sufficient quan-
titles to render their pursuit profitable. In
the SpitZher@en, or, rs if i, sometimes eron-
couslv called the :. Greenland seal tisherv''
the seals which form the quarry of the scalcr
are chiefly four Spccics--thr ground seal, the
saddlcbacI1, or harp seal, from the saddle on
harp shaped marking on the backs of the
adult male: the bladder nosed seal, or klap-
mutt Of the Continental Sculcr~, SO called
from the inflated bladder or cap on its fore
head; and the foe rat the smallest species
Of seal in the Arctic seas. Spring /, the time
when the pursuit OF these seals is followed,
because at that tmc the seals assemble in in
credible numbers on the great icc-tueS. which
have not yet been broken up in the Arctic seas,
to produce their young. The Young Of the
seal is generally OF a CREAMY colorcd white
and is particularly fat, and his skin, though
small, is covered with Il thick coating of hair
For fourteen or twenty days after birth they
are unable to swim; and it often happens
! that seals of that ACE are blown on the locS
! by the spring gales and are drowned. The
scalcr, therefore, endcaVor- to reach the
North Sea- before they have taken to the wa
ter; for then the helpless Young fall an easy
prey to the hunters.
Nowadays there are few whalerS sailing
from British ports, end most Of these are
steamers belonging 10 Dundee Hull. Kirk
caldy Pctcrhcad or Aberdeen. Nearly I'LL of
these vessels, since the failure of the whale
fishery on the east side Of Davis Strait, Uo
which inlet whaling is now almost entirely
conlncd,) make preliminary trip to the seal
fishery; and those vessels which pursue the
| Spitzbergen whaling do 50 rs u matter of
necessity because they are unable to pcnc-
trate to the more northern hlrnts of the
whale until the ice barrier breaks up later in
the season. There are also a number of Ger
man, Norwegian and Dutch ships engaged in
the seal iishery-all being comprchcndcd by
the non-political British seamen under the
generic name of .'Dutchmcn" The French
had at one time 4 few ships, but of late years
they have abandoned the enterprise. The
''Dutchmenn sail directly for the sealing
ground;n but the British ships rendezvous,
toward the end Of February and the first days
of March, in Bressl Sound, off Lerwick, in
Shetland, the most northern town in Her
MalcSty's dominionS. As most OF the Seamcn
are drunk before starting, this halt is looked
upon rs u convenient stoppa%e to put all in
order before cncountering the tcmpeSuous
North Sea. Here are bought fresh stores of
fish, fowls and eggs at Il very low price,
vegetables, leather ''scalin@ caps" and the
numerous articles Of Shetland hosiery com
arrive from the Nor Isles slalwart fellows,
with very big sea chests and small stock of
clothing, to be taken on as ''green hands, to
assist in the sealing. They are shrewd, lazy
! customers, little liked by the regular hands,
and poorly paid and kicked about briskly; but
they. nevertheless, come in such numbers
that there is generally little difficulty for each
ship in ten days on Il fortnight to make up its
complement of men to from forty to seventy
Lerwick is then quite alive. 1t is the annua.
holiday of the old Scandnavian-looking viii
age, which for the rest of the year sla@natcs
in more than Shetland dullness The crook
ed, narrow streets are alive with hundreds Of
seamen, who are always, more or less, under
the influence Of rum, though there is not, or
was not at the time of our visit, !; single Ii
censed house in the whole village But the
people are hospitable, and half-a-crown will
60 as far in producing from private stores
bottles OF ardent spirits as anywhere else in
the world. The boatmcn and fishermen seem
to keep open house, and vie with each other
i'll showing kindness to and in making II har
vest out of the sealers At last, one by one,
checrcd in turn by the other vessels of the
fleet, and by a demoniacal yell from n crowd
of boys and girls decked with caps and rib |
bons, at the landings the vessels sail out of
the Sound, and soon lose sight of Shetland. |
High seas generally prevail i'll these latitudes
SO early in the year; but if you are in a steam
er it will not last long in about a week little
bits of oozy looking ice, tossing about on the
crcsts of the waves, will tell that you are ap-
preaching the scene of your labors. In a few
days more larger pieces will appear and
shortly afterwards drcary foes will hcavc in