The Yazoo sentinel. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1878-1916, 1885-05-07

seme lnfereatlnm sGsries Ahour ~ N and

''It Is rather q monolonoua Juisuit
the killing Of seals, +" says a seI hunter
''the only excitement being the chase II
the water Of some fierce old B hooder
who is apt to give you long md lively
chase before his vulnerahIs part i
brought 10 sight. There Is something
pathetic in the hunting Of the female
hood with her young. for sh., viii make
every effort 10 get IL out Of harms way,
and then seeing that escape is impossi-
bic, will protect 1t with her body from
the blows OF the hunter, uttering her
low, appealing murmur, until she her
self Is killed and can protest her whelp
no longer. 1t is believed by all seal
hunters that mother seil can distin-
guish the cry of its young among
thousand others. IL Is o curious sight
during April 10 watch the seals. They
come out on the ice, yeaclings. 2-year-
ODDS, and old seals, abouE the middle OF
that month for the purpoDe Of scrubbing
themselves. II the sun Is shining their
skin viii be sure to burn so that some
times 1t may be pulled off with the fin
gers. At such times to return to the
water will subject the seal to intense
pain, and so well do thy know when
they are In this condition that they viii
remain on the ice and he killed rather
than enter the water and submit TO the
pain. If the sun. burned seal is forced
into the water it will utter sharp cries Of
agony and try to climb back on the Ice in
spite Of the men threatening them with
the gaf and guns. Seals have relent-
less enemies in sharks and swordhsh,
and they will rush from the water to the
ice when pursued by these monsters, and
place themselves behind a hunter, or
run between his legs, for safety, shaking
with fear, like frightened human be-
ing. These sharks are sometimes so
ravenous that have known them to leap
upon the ice when in pursuit of a seal,
and more than once l have shot them
while thus ont Of their element. / once
saw a swordfsh chase seal, and it
reached the ice In safety, and the fish
thurst its sword against the icy with
such force that piece weighing hun
dreds OF pounds was split from the foe.
The cries OF the seal that escaped from
The swordfish were pitiful, so full of
agony were they, and after her fright
was over she submitted to death at the
hands OF the hunter without murmur.
"The skins Of all seals are weighed
With the fat, and are calculated at is
Der cent. Of the whole. A barrel of |
voung harp seals fat win weigh 225
pounds and produce % gallons Of oil,
here being only 81 pounds Of residue.
young hood seal viii yield only 81 |
,allons Of oil to the barrel, although it
Veighs five pounds more. Old harp
at will yield 22l gallons of oil to
he barrel. The fat is now reduced by
team, but formerly it was reduced by
xposure to the sun in wooden watts.
liners prefer the sun-drawn young
cal oil as it smokes less. 1t has a bad
dor, however, while the steam rendered
as not. 1t is curious fact that when
eal oil is drawn from the watts the oil Of
he young seal will come first, and It is
eadily known when that is all out. for
is Of pale yellow, and the old oil
nns deep straw color. Seals milk is a
1rious feature about this useful animal.
n 1t is as thick almost as white lead.
ishermen have in an emergency stopped
,aks in their boats with seals milk. Not
'ss than %, 900, 000seals have been taken
ON the Newfoundland ice fields by the
'al fleets alone since hunting COM
enced there, more than one hundred
oars ago, $4,000, 900 Of them having
9en taken since 1885,"