News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-01-21
A SEAL HUNT UP NORTH.
HOW; THE COD FISHERMEN OF NEW
FOUNDLtND SPEND THEIR
WINTERS.
The Outfit of the Seal KiIIers-scene
on the Ice-The Agony OF the Dams Over
the Murder of Their YOung-PrOft and
Loss,

In the latter part of February tn
ROADS Leading from the outports to 81
Johns, Newfoundland, are enlivened b
the appearance of the sealers.
The outfit of these sealers is of tn
simplest description Sealskin boots
reaching to the knee, having a thic
leather sole well nailed to enable theT
TO walk over the ice protect the feet
coarse canvas jackets, often showing tn
industry of wife or a mother in tn
number of patches that adorn them, ar
worn over warm wooden shirts and othe
inner clothing; sealskin caps and twee'
or moleskin trousers and thick wooleI
mlts complete the costume, which i
more picturesque than handsome.
In the forecastle or other parts 0
the ship rough berths are constructed
The sealers have to furnish themselve
with straw mattress and blanketing
AS rule they never undress durin!
voyage. In the rare event of putin,
on clean shirt it goes on over its pre-
decessor, without removing the latter
method that saves time and trouble
ana Is besides conducive to warmeth.
The food of the men is none of Il,
daintiest. A person who is the leas
bit squeamish about what he eats
drinks, and avoids had better not attemp
"slvile" hunt The diet consists o
biscuit, pork. butter, and tea sweeteneC
with molasses of the blacklist kind, TO
the owners supply The provisions. Oh
three days every .,Ss dinner consists
Of pork aE~--f, sefzhtful cannon
ball-like mixture of -four and water
boiled, with a little fatty substance tx
Tighten it. On other occasions biscuit
and tea form the bulk of the diet
When however they fall in with seal
they are feasted upon heart, liver, anc
clippers served in dozens of ways. WheI
out on the ice it is common practice tc
string on their belts dozen or two
Of seals hearts and livers.
These they eat whenever appetite
prompts. This free use of fresh meats
keeps them healthy and prevents the
dread sculvy. They are often eight Of
ten weeks from land After leading
such rough life it is marvellous to see
them leap ashore hearty and healthy.
Their outer garments are polished
with fat and blood and until they have
changed their clothing it is advisable
to keep to windward of them.
The aim of the sealers is to reach the
whelping grounds while the young are
IN their plump, olesginous babyhood.
The position of the icy cradle is abso-
lutely uncertain, being dependent upon
the movements of the ice and the forces
OF winds and waves. 1t must be sought
amid vast ice fields. At times, in at
tempting to push her way through a
narrow lead, the ysssel is caught and
held there at the mercy of the ice and
drifted with it. If a storm comes up
almost certain destruction threatens the
vessel. The unbroken swell of the At
lantic rolling in huge continuous ridges
heaves the vast ice pavement first up on
its huge crest, then sinks it in its deep
hollows. By this heaving and swelling
the ice field is broken into countless
foes. The whole mass opens and ex-
pands, and then the broken. fragments
are dashed together with resistless vio-
lence, and piled on each other in huge
hummocks.
Nothing can be more terrible than to
see through the mist of sleet and snow
> huge berg of ice floating by, rotating
as it moves, and, striking the edge of a
flow, crack it with noise like thunder
into o hundred pieces. To describe
these vast moving masses of ice is i'm
possible; to see them even is to have but
3 small conception of their magnitude,
10 much is hidden from view. Scoresby
estimates one at ten thousand millions
Of tons.
# T $780, Il: ,,;7 eve, : scene
cover the surface< Dcean In a gilt
,ering expanse, dotse1 with towering
oergs of every siza and shape, having
cleaning turrets, domes, and spires.
For the most part the sea is quiet. It's
strange beauty is wonderfully fascinat-
ng. When the sun is shining brightly
t is dazzling, and its monotony is weari-
'ome. The moon, the stars and the
aurora are needed to reveal all
is beauty. The dry bracing air sends
he blood dancing through the veins.
The clouds have cleared, leaving a
ovely sky, studded with stars, through
which the moon sails calmly. The ice
las been opened by the pinions of the
storm in all directions, and the seal
lunter finds himself sailing in calm
lea among Numerous fairy is1ets of gilt
ering ice, with shining pinnacles and
antastic forms floating calmly around.
IN such nights the auroral
display is magnificent. An immense
curtain of light oyerspreads the heaven
ike canopy of an immense tent, having
borders of the richest and most vivid
,olors, waving its folds to and fro as
f agitated by the wind. Now flush
If crimson spreads over the sky, reflect
ng blood-red hue, from the pure white
now; then vast flame curtains seem to
'pen and close with uncomfortable rap
dity, showing now pink, now purple,
orange, and green. Long converging
pencils of light flash to the zenith, then
vanish.
Amid snch scenes as this the sealer
teamer sails around, always on the
ookout for the whelping grounds. The
-essel is Immediately laid to, and the
nen eagerly bound upon the ice to
'egin their work of destruction Young
nen who are now for the first time ply
ng the gaffs are almost overcome with |
he baby lamentations of the young
'white-coats, (which sound wonderfully |
Ike the sobbings Of child in pain.
is soon laid aside and the
FORK of destruction begins. A blow on
he nose fl ON the gaff stuns or kills the !
Dung seal. Instantly the scalping knife /
, OF l., fa% ID
ering, is removed with amazing rapid |
y from the carcass, which is left on
he ice still quivering with life, while
le fat and skin alone are carried off. |
With five or SIX pelts the hunter goes
ack to the vessel ng from pan to
an if the ice Is ftoxen, and many
Did bath awaits the Jumper who is too
lger to be careful.
Fancy 200 or 800 men on field of
e, carrying on their murderous work,
18th persons smeared with blood, evil
ence of the wholesale slaughter; the
'e stained with gore and covered with
lie sklnless carcasses of the slain; the
llVerlng seals low means filing the air
Ike the sobbings of infants in distress;
lie murdererS every moment shifting
esh victims or dragging the greasy
ICES to the vessels side. Then what
picture the vessel presents as the pelts
e being piled on deck to cool before
eng placed below. One after another
lie hunters arrive with their loads, and
latch hasty moment to drink bowl
tea and eat bit of biscuit. The
Dor mother seals, now cubless, are seen
2pplng their heads up in the small
kes and holes among the ice, anx-
oung.
The fortunes of the sealers are vari-
is. Sometimes they are caught in the
e and borne up and down on the ocean
" Meeks and Gnalln rotllrr q 1nnrt