The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1873-07-17
GEr ltlllptTat,
Seal Fishlng.


A st. Johns IN. F. letter writer, in re-
fering to the arrival of steamer EagZe,
after only fortnight's absence, with a
catch OF $4,000 seals, valued at $4,000,
says:
The Eagles trip has certainly been
remarkably prosperous one. She led the
way on the start on the Sd of March, and
finding clear water steamed rapidly north
ward, and on the 9th struck the seals of
Cape John, the most northern part of
Notre Dam Bay. Here she found herself
surrounded by myriads of "white coats"
as far as the eye could reach, enjoying
themselves on the ice, fed by the milk of
their loving mothers. Unluckily, how.
ever, they were only about ten days old
whereas they are not in their prime until
they are three weeks old. At that tender
age the hunters call them "cats"-a term
Of contempt. The captain of the Eagle
with difficulty restrained the impatience
of his men, and kept them from laying
hands on the ''cats" till they should fat
ten and be worthy of their attentions.
For five days they virtually abstained
from numbering the innocents, watching
impatlently their daily growth iH grease,
which is astonishingly rapid. 1t was a
curious soene-a herd of perhaps 100000
baby seals lying around amid the hum
mocks, whimpering with q noise very
similar TO that of so many human babes,
but far dearer music to the ears OF the
hunter-al unconscious of the doom that
awaited them, as they quietly fattened
for the slaughter. By way of passing the
time, the hunters turned their attention
to the old seals, and killed some 30.nc0 of
them. On the 10th of March their i'm
patience could be no longer restrained.
At last the captain gave the word, "Over-
board with you, and have at them; but
they are too young yet" For the next
i've days, night and day, the work of
death went on, for seal hunters under
such circumstances want little sleep or
rest. When the hold was filled with fat,
the coal was thrown over board only
enough to steam homeward being rsserv-
ed, and the oal-bunks, the berths. and
even the boxes Of the men were crammed
with seals. The hunters slept where they
could-on the pile of frozen seals, in
barrels on deck, or on the floor of the fore
castle. between walls of fat. To complete
the cargo, 5000 seals were piled on deck,
till the vessel sank so deep that her deck
was almost on a level with the water. So
many young seals-mere "cats"-have
been taken this year, that there is a loud
outcry for law that will prohibit sealing
steamers from leaving port sooner than
March 10th. f4tf
The next arrival from the ice was the
WGtTEts, q much smaller steamer, having
1900 seals, as many as she could stow
away. She was followed soon after by
the Wolf, with splendid cargo of &c, 900
seals, IN fine condition. Then came the
Bloodhound, with 25, 600 !; and finally the
Neptune, with 81, ,00C. The Iceland was
unfortunate-had one of her men shot &C
cidentally, and brought in only 5000 old
seals, equal to 6,400 young hsrps. Thus,
these six steamers, among them, brought
in l32, 400 seals-value $S97, 200. A num-
Der of sailing vessels having good trips
have also arrived. The O6aTs brought
7,190 seals, the Clara Maria A 900, the
SheT6rook $500, the Havezock 5000, the
AYiel 8 100; in all p, 800 among FIVE sail
ing vessels. IMa il4H tf7 saA