The Portland daily press., 1886-01-07
A SEAL HUNT.
How the Cod Fishermen of New
foundland Spend their Winters.


ivened by the appearance Of the sealers, or,
as they are called in the vernacular. ssilers,
on their way to engage in 'sivile huntin."
Each of them carries bundle of clothing
over his shoulder, swinging at the end of a
gaff, which is to serve him as an ice pole, or
club to kill the seals, and a means of drag
ging the skins over the ice. Occasionally
one is seen carrying a long sealing gun, to
be used in killing old seals and others that
cannot be reached by the gaff. The outfit Of
these sealers is of the simplest description.
Sealskin boots, reaching to the knee, having
thick leather sole, well nailed, ito enable
them to walk over the ice, protect the feet;
coarse canvas jackets, often showing the IN
dustry of wife or mother in the number OF
patches that adorn them. are worn over
warm wooden shirts and other inner clothing;
sealskin caps and tweed or moleskln trousers
and thick wooden mits complete the costume,
which is more picturesque than nalds9nie.
They all converge at the quays, ana tnere
is an anxious, swaying. crowd OF these
quantity dressed 'ssilers," each trying to get
booked for the hunt. Those VINO come first,
if they are young and healthy, get booked
tent with a berth on the sailing vessels, and
some. especially the older men, are left be-
hind.
In the forecastle or other parts of the ship,
rough berths are constructed. The sealers
have to furnish themselves with straw mat
tress and blanketlng. The men are packed
like herrings in barrel. AS rule they
never undress during voyage. In the rare
event of putting on clean shirt, it goes on
over its predecessor, without removing the
latter. a method which saves .time and
trouble, and is, besides, conducive to warmth.
The food of the men is none of the daintest.
A person who is the least bit squeamish
about what he eats, drinks and avoids. had
better net attempt a. ''siyile hunt" The diet
consists of biscuit, pork, butter and tea.
sweetened with molasses of the blacklist
kind, for the owners supply the provisions,
On three days every week dinner consists of
pork and duff, a delightful cannon bail mix
ture of flour and water, boiled, with little
fatty substance to tighten it. On other occa-
sions biscuit and tea form the bulk of the
diet. When, however, they fall in with
seals they are Toasted upon heart, liver and
flipperS served in dozens of ways. When
out on the ice 1T is a common practice to
string on their belts dozen or two of seals
ever appetite prompts. This free use of
fresh meats keeps them healthy and pre-
vents the dread scurvy. After leading such
rough life 1t is marvellous to see them leap
ashore hearty and healthy. Their outer gar
ments are polished with fat and blood, and
advisable to keep to windward of them.
The experiences of sealing voyage are in
fluenced by the ever shifting condition of the
ice and the direction Of the winds. The aim
of the sealers is to reach the whelping
grounds of the seals while the young are in
their plump, cleagin0us babyhood. The po-
sition of the icy cradle is absolutely uncer-
tain, being dependent upon the movements
of the ice and the force of winds and waves.
1t must be sought amid ice fields. At times
in otfpnntinp m TJ1eh hQr thrOuOIl q
narrow lead, the vessel is caught and held
there at the mercy of the ice and drifted with
it. If a storm comes up almost certain de-
struction threatens the vessel. The unbrok-
tinuous ridges heaves the vast ice pavement
first up on its huge crest, then sinks in its
deep hollows. By this heaving and swelling
the ice field is broken into countless foes.
The whole mass opens and expands, and
then the broken fragments are dashed to-
gether with resistless violence and piled on
each other in huge hummocks. Woe to the
unfortunate vessel that comes within reach
of these fearful missiles! In this terrible
war of the elements, the laundering crashes
as the ice giants meet and dash one another
to pieces, the foes and bergs graphing with
each other in the fray, and the roaring over
head of the binding snow storm, all combine
to make up scene of terrible confusion.
Nothing can be more terrible than to see
through the mist of sleet and snow a huge
DClB VI lCC 1lOdbluS NY lUtdblilS DIS IL luUfGS,
and, striking the edge of foe, crack it with
noise Like thunder into a hundred pieces.
To describe these vast moving masses of ice
is impossible. To see them even is to have
but small conception of their magnitude,
so much is hidden from view Scoresby es-
Inmates one at ten thousand millions of tons.
When the storm clears away a scene of
strange and dazzling beauty surrounds YOU
on all sides. The ice fields cover the surface
Of the ocean in a glittering expanse, dotted
with towering bergs of every size and shape,
having cleaning turrets, domeS and spires.
For the most part the sea is quiet Its strange
beauty is wonderfully fascinating. When
the sun is shining brightly it is too dazzling,
and its monotony is wearisome. The moon,
the start, and the Pickering aurora are need
ed to reveal all its beauty. The dry, bracing
air sends the blood dancing through the
veins The clouds have cleared, leaving a
lovely sky, studded with stars, through
which the moon sails calmly. The ice has
been opened by the pinions of the storm in
all directions, and the seal hunter finds HIM
self sailing in a calm sea amid numerous
fairy islets of glittering ice, with shining
pinnacles and fantastic forms floating calmly
around Frequently in such nights the au-
roral display is magnificent. An immense
curtain of light oyerspreads the heavens like
a canopy of an immense tent, having borders
of the richest and most vivid colors, waving
its folds to and fro as if agitated by the
wind. Now flush of crimson spreads over
the sky, rejecting blo0d-red hue from the
pure white snow; then kvast flame curtains
seem to open and close with inconceivable
rapidity, showing now pink, now purple,
orange and green. Long converging pencils
of light flash to the zenith then suddenly
vanish.
Amid such scenes as this the seal steamer
sails away, always on the lookout for the
whelping grounds. When the word is given
all is excitement The vessel is laid to and
the men eagerly bound upon the ice to begin
their work of destruction. Young men who
are now for the first time plying the gaffs
tions of the young ''white-coats," which
sound wonderfully like the sobbings of a
child in pain. Compassion is soon laid aside
and the work of destruction begins A blow
on the nose from the gait stuns or kills the
young seal. Instantly. the scalping. knife is
at work The skin, with the fat adhering, is
removed with amazing rapidity from the
carcass, which is left on the ice still quiyer-
ing with life. while the fat and skin alone
are carried off. With five or six pelts the
hunter goes back to the vessel, leaping from
pan to pan if the ice is broken, and many a
cold bath awaits the jumper who is too eager
to be careful
Fancy 200 or 300 hundred men on float of
ice, carrying on their murderous work, with
persons smeared with blood. evidence of the
wholesale slaughter; the ice stained with
gore and covered with the skinless carcasses
of the slain; the shivering seals low means
filling the air like sobbings of infants in dis
tress the murderers every moment shifting
fresh victims or dragging the greasy prizes
tosthe vessels side. Then what picture
the vessel presents as the pelts are being
piled on deck to cool before being placed be-
low. One after another the hunters arrive
with their loads and snatch haSty moment
to drink bowl of tea and eat a bit of bis
cult The poor mother seals, now cubless,
are seen popping their heads up on the small
lakes and holes among the ice, anxiously but
yainly looking for their young.
The fortunes Of the sealers are various.
Sometimes they are caught in the ice and
borne up and down on the ocean for weeks,
and finally return to port without seal. AT
other times a vessel falls into a perfect Ell
Dorado. She fills as fast as the seals can be
killed, and returns in two or three weeks la
den to the gunwale, and the successful "oil-
erS" are the heroes of the hour. When seals
are taken out in large quantities, the hold
of the vessel is first fitted. Then the men
willingly surrender their berths, which are
packed full of the pelts. Every nook and
corner is crammed with the precious fat, and
the sealers sleep where they can, in barrels
on deck, on layer of seals, or in the coal
bunkers. They can do this the more readily
since their pay is in proportion to the catch.
The fat is tried down into oil, which is
used in making soap, for lubricating ma
chimes, and in lighthouses and Mines The
skins sell for about 81 apiece and are con-
yerted into boots, shoes and harness. This
industry gives employment every spring to
q steamers from Newfoundland, built ex-