The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1871-05-11
Hunt Of the Seal.
st. Johns IN. F. Correspondence March 10Y of til
Boston Traveller,

St. Johns IN. f. Correspondence March 10Y of the
Boston Traveller.
During the last few days our city has
been wonderful scene of hustle and ex-
citement. Amid ringing cheers and with
flags flying, our sealing fleet have taken
their departure tor the ice-fields, where,
for the next two months, they will be en-
gagged in the capture of seals, amid perils
and hardships that are enough to make
| the stoutest heart quail. They have start
ed under very favorable auspices this
year, with open winter and favorable
breeze. The outfit, too, is unusually
large.
Not less than 10000 hardy, active men
sail from the various harbors of New
foundland about the 1st of March each
year, in pursuit of the seal The vessels
in which they embark svary in size from
80 to $50 tons. of late years steamers
have been introduced; and, as in all other
branches of industry, steam threatens to
drive away all competitors. Last year
there were ten steamers engaged in the
seal fishery; and this year five additional
steamers have been added to the tleet-a
sufficient proof that this method of car
rying on the fishery is found more remu-
nerative than the old system. The SUI
periority of steamers over sailing vessels
in clearing their way through heavy ice,
| in pursuing their prey rapidly in spite Of
winds and currents, in holding on to q
| well covered " seal meadow" when reach
ed, when, by change of wind, a sailing
vessel would be driven off, must be very
obvious. The seal hunters infinitely pre-
| fer q berth in q steamer to one in a sail
ing vessel, although in the former the
crew get but one-third the proceeds of
the voyage divided among them, and in
| the latter one-half The steamer can
| make two, and at times even three trips
to the ice fields, so that the probabilities
of success are vastly increased by the en-
ployment of steam.
| Last year the ten steamers averaged
| 10000 seals each-valued at three dollars
| per seal. One steamer in two trips bro't
in $4,000 seals, thus earning in two
months, $4,000. 1t is thus evident that
when successful, there are few CONNER
cial adventures more profitable than seal
hunting. But, then, there are many
blanks to a prize; and after battling for
weeks with the pillows, amid these ice
! covered seas, where over hundreds Of
square miles the seals are to be sought
the poor men often return to port, their
vessel g clean" and their prospects dis
NAL The profits of the enterprise are,
| however, on the whole very large, when
we take into account that the number of
seals taken each Spring ranges from 350,-
600 to 900.
The seal hunters. or, as they are called
in the vernacular, 'soilers," like best to
fall in with that species of seal called the
harp" 1t is SO named from the old
male animal having in addition to a num-
| ber of spots, broad curved line of con-
nected blotches proceeding from each
shoulder and meeting on the back above
| the tail, forming a figure something like
an ancient harp or Tyre. The female has
not this harp, neither has the male till af-
ter his second year. The young, when
born, are covered with thick white fur,
and are called by g the soilers" g white
coats" When about six weeks old they
shed this whitecoat and a smooth, spotted
skin appears. They are then young
"harps." When II months old, the males
are scarcely distingushable from the fe-
males; and during that season they arc
called bedlamers." The next season
the male has assumed his harp. They
are never seen on the coast of Newfound-
land except during the breeding season,
and come from the Arctic solitudes for tho
purpose of bringing forth their young.
! The mothers leave their young on the ice
and fish about in the neighborhood fol
! their own subsistence, returning OCCASION
ally to give suck. The young ones arc
fattest when three weeks old.
1t is said to be pitiable sight when the
mother seal returns for the purpose Q!
sucking her young, and finds her white.
coated darling gone, mass Of flesh
which she fails to recognize as her lost
offspring, being the only relic. Hel
| signs of grief are then quite touching
In addition to the g harp there are the
hooded SEAL" the square tlipper" and
the bay seal" The last is found only
| on the coast.
Soon after the sealing vessel reaches
port with her fat cargo, the skinners &C
to work and separate the fat and skins
The latter are then salted and exported
to England where boots, shoes, harness,
portmanteaus are manufactured from
them. The fat, after being weighed, is
thrown into huge watts, where the oil is
extracted by heat and pressure, then
drawn off and barreled for expectation.
This is u tedious process; and of late
years, the great innovator, steam, has
BEEN called on to quicken the extraction
OF the oil By steam driven machinery
the fat is rapidly cut into minute pieces,
then steamed, stewed, pressed, and the
oil passed into stout casks. BY this pro-
cess the work of two months is complet-
ed in fortnight. Not only so, but the
disagrecable smell Of the oil is removed,
the quality improved. and the quantity
increased. The refuse, when mixed with
the earth and beg, makes good fer
tilizing manure. The average value of
tun of seal oil in Newfoundland is Sl52
1t is used largely in lighthouses, for ma
| chinery, and in the manufacture of the
finer kinds of soap.