Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-04
On a Sealing Steamer.

The Story of a Voyage Made This Spring. Let the sportsman who ''gushes'' in the columns of society sporting papers, If he Is , :rs saTaese, abandon his ssRaEables Through Maine'' and his ''Meanderings in Florida" and put himself in communication with a Newfoundland sealing skipper, with view to rambling after seals He will have po- lar expedition compressed into four weeks, l and the adventurs will have the spice of dan ger about it that makes it dear to the sports mans heart
 Captain Richard Pike is master of MessrS. J. < w. Stewards steamer Proteus Captain Dick is big, jolly sandy ~hiskered New found ander, of about i've feet ten inches in
 height but not lookisg up to his height by
 reason of his bulk" He probably weighs 26g pounds, and he is a "solid man He commands enc of the finest ships of the sealing fleet. The Proteus vas built at Dnn- dee Scotland. Her net tonnage is 467, Brit ish measurement She carries compound en- zines of 1l0 nominal horse power. It is the particular business of this vessel to make her way through the heavy Arctic ice. and Cap tain "Dick'' is going to make her attend to her business or know the reason why. This ship was hired by the American government some two years ago to do some special work. It will be noted that the ships net tonnage does not exceed 467 tons hence you will be suHprised to learn that her scaling crew numbers 295 men. The crew of a sealing steamer would gladden. the heart of a recruit ing sergeant. Bronze faced, iron muscled, broad chested sons of Hercules, every one of them Ranging in height from five feet ten inches to six feet two inches, and in years from twenty-two to thirty-five, they are ca pablo of enduring any amount of hardship.
 The law of Newfoundland does not per init sealing steamers to leave port for the prosecution of the voyage until 6 o'clock on the morning of the 10th of March. This r-ic r,roxioion 0f tha law FaGS66 order that immature seals might be protected until they were sufficiently developed to be of some economic value. Formerly the mother seals were killed and the young cut out (oft- en aliye) and thrown aside to die. This was killing the goose that laid the golden egg with vengeance Gas Sir Boyle Roche would say), and the Legislature stepped in and stayed the departure of the steamers as the most effectual method of curing the evil On the morning of the 10th of March from an early hour the hills were re-echoing the discordant notes of steam whistles. Our men were all on board, however, and at one minute to six o'clock I heard the warning bell in the engineers department and noticed that the telegraph marked ''Stand by" At six exactly the propeller began to revolve and our ship felt her way out slowly from among the surrounding shipping, and in twenty minutes we were outside the harbor and fairly on our way. The only ice in sight
 
 ice, extending from seaward in to the point of Cape Spear There was very little wind and hardly any sea running. Captain Pike shaped a course more to the eastward than any other vessel of the fleet. The main body of the ice was encountered off Cape Bona vista, one hundred miles from St. Johns and our vessels nose WAS at once run into It. For three or four days we worked east-north- east through s'bay ice'' Gas distinguished
 from the heavy Arctic ice, none of which we
 had yet seen At the end of that time an occasional hood seal and family were seen.
 Our course was altered slightly and for three
 days we made good way through the light ice.
 On the 17th of March the bow of the yes sel struck against large sheet of ice upon which no impression could be made, and the captain ordered all hands out to look for seals. The men poured out over each bow, commanded by several masters watch who divided them into gangs. In an hour or so they could hardly be seen from the deck, but the man in the 'tcrow's nest" reported that some of them were taking seals. This was good news and we waited lnpatlently l the return of the men so as to hear their re- ports When they returned they reported I that they had seen no ''harp" seals (the most valuable seal), but that they had killed, scu]ped and brought on board 270 old and young hoods. Captain Pike judged from these reports where the main s'patch'' of hoods lay, neaQSu Ene Steamef nOfGQ-nOrGn-
 west and forged ahead until the 23d, when
 the northern or Arctic ice was encountered. But the captain was right the seals were also met and the work of slaughter con- menced. Before night there were 1,060 old and eco young seals on board-some of these killed four miles from the ship and hauled
 on board The next day over Z, ,000 were put
 on board :; the following day 5000 The 1 best days work was on the 25th, when 1000
 seals were killed, sculped (carcasses removed)
 and put on board by 295 men-an average of | over fourteen seals per man.
 On the 29th the captain ordered the flags
 to be put up and we headed for St. Johns 1 heavily laden with seals. A vessel deeply laden with such 8 cargo makes very bad
 weather, and twice we were compelled to run l back into the ice for shelter. Finally ten
 punts were cut down and thrown over, and 1 the vessel did not labor so heavily. On Sun
 day, the 1st day of April, we arrived at St.
 Johns, the first steamer in, with 14, 600 seals, ] weighing 686 tons and valued at $5O,00O.