News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-04-02
THE FUR SEAL.
Some Interesting Stories About them and
their Capture.

SIT is rather a monotonous pursuit,
the killing of SEALS" says a seal hunter.
'the only excitement being the chase in
the water of some fierce old he hooder,
who is apt to give you long and lively
chase before his vulnerable part is
brought to sight. There is something
pathetic in the hunting of the female
hood with her young, for she will make
every effort to get it out of harms way,
and then seeing that escape is impossi-
bic, will protect it with her BODY from
the blows of the hunter, uttering her
low, appealing murmur, until she her
self Is killed and can protect her whelp
no longer. 1t is believed by all seal
hunters that mother seal can distin-
guish the cry of its young among
| thousand others. It is a curious sight
during April to watch the seals. Thew
come out on the ice, yearlings, 2-year.
olds, and old seals, about the middle Of
that month for the purpose of scrubbine
themselves. If the sun is shining their
skin will be sure to burn so that some-
times it 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 they know when
they are in this condition that they will
remain on the ice and be 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 gait and guns. Seals have relent-
less enemies in sharks and sword6sb.
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 1 have shot them
while thus out of their element. I once
saw swordfish 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 pisifuI. SO fnII Of |
agony were they, and after her FRIGHT
was over she submitted to death at The
hands of the hunter without a mnrmnr
"The skins of all seals are weighed
fat, and are calculated at Is
ith ts.~ the whole. A barrel of
sr cent: 81 fat will weigh 225
'ung harp ssats gallons of oil,
FUNDS and pfodues e. = residue
ere being only 50 pounds - - 81 ,
young hood seal will yield ON,
lions of oil to the barrel, although Il
eighs five pounds more. Old harp !
t will yield 22B gallons of oil to {
e barrel. The fat is now reduced by
cam, but formerly it was reduced by q
posure to the sun in wooden watts. L
iners prefer the sun-drawn young r
al oil as it smokes less. 1t has bad o
Tor, however, while the steam-rendered :
IS not. It is a curious fact that when L
al oil is drawn from the watts the oil of a
e young seal will come first, and it is s
adily known when that is all out, for n
is of a pale yellow, and the old oil b
ns deep straw color. Seals milk is a v
rious feature about this useful animal, s
r it is as thick almost as white lead. Il
shermen have in an emergency stopped r
AXIS in their boats with seals milk. Not q
IS than %, 900, 900 seals have been taken v
ON the Newfoundland ice fields by the n
al fleets alone since hunting COM
enced there, more than one hundred \
ears ago, 22,000.000 of them having
zen taken since 1880" .