Omaha daily bee., 1888-04-01

of its freezing expels the salt and it's
freezing point is about % Fahrenheit.
The first form it takes ON is as l
mentioned in the form of pancakes.
which 500 become thicker, developing
into bay ice," which is merely the
thin covering of pancakes firmly united
into one solid mass. The third degree
is the ''Floe," which is a sheet of ice
the limits of which are visible. Then
the ''ice field" the limits of which are
so extensive as to be invisible either by
aid of the naked eye o. telescope.
Pack ice," the last form, consists of
broken foes forced together by such
agents as wind and currents. Thro' all
these various degrees of con%sistence we
had to force our way, and many a good
bump we sustained, but nc damage.
AS we continued our course north we
were followed in our wake by a large
number of wild fowl, chiefly of the gull
species, such as the kittywake, burgo-
master and snowbird. This last mem
toned is a most handsome creature Of
pure, snow-white plumage, and is o N
stantly uttering its piercing shrill
notes. | used to amuse myself catching
these by means of a long line an d hook,
baited with a piece of pork fat, which |
let run out from the stern of the vessel.
The moment they fixed their eagle gaze
on such Il dainty morsel, down they
swooped and n allied it in the %twinkling
of an eye only to find to their
dismay that they had been ut
fact that the moment their feet cam
in contact with the deck of the ship
they had lost the power of flight, but if
thrown up in the air they could wing
their way all right. Many of the sailors
had serious objections to my catching
these birds, as they believe them to con-
tain the souls of some departed seal
hunters. Such is their superstition.
On the 3Oth of March had the pleas
ure of seeing the first seal. A beauty it
was, and a mother, too, for nesting
close to its side lay its little cub. Feign
would | have secured these, and had 1
done so | should have been subjected to
a fine of about $3.50, for by an interna-
tional treaty between Scotland and Nor
way, h two nations most interested, II
''cfose time" has been established in the
''Greenland Seal Fishing This period
continues up to the Sd day of April. The
reason for such n restriction is obvious,
for only a few years ago, the practice of
h seal hunters was to reach the seals
soon after the young were born, and
then watch for the mothers as they came
to suckle them and shoot them without
mercy, leaving the young to die in
thousands of starvation on the ice. This
reckless and barbarous style naturally
caused q manifest dimunition in the
number taken, the consequence being
that the herds are not now a twentieth
part of their former size. BY the
institution of the above mentioned
law, the young seals are not disturbed
till they are mature and about to leave
their mothers and make their own
h,anl IN tho mould and thap ~ ,nn,-
mercially of much greater value, being
by this time better worth taking.
On the 4th Of April, after some pretty
tough navigation, we came upon a large
tract of"pack ice''about fou rmiles long
by three broad, which was, as far as the
eye could reach, literally covered with
seals both young and old. We esti-
mated their number at 500 900, and con-
sidered ourselves extremely lucky as
we were the first to get in among them
But the rest of the fleet was not long
in following up the scent. We anchored
our ship on h margin of the hunting
ground, and as it was evening we re-
served our strength for the morrow,
all retiring early to rest, for we de-
termined to be- up with the lark. BY
4 a. m. we were all on the alert and
were soon on the ice in regimental or
der, under the command of the first
mate. Each man was equipped with
following:
/. A leather belt, holding scalping
knife and steel with which to iense or
remove the seals skin.
2. A ''lowrie tow" or rope, eighteen
feet long, with which to drag the skins
TO certain fixed spots on the see.
3. A club to despatch them with-a
shaft of wood four feet long terminating
in an iron spike, clubbed at one extrem-
ity, pointed at the other. The sharp
end is driven into their skulls, pierces
the brain, causing almost instan-
taneous death.
4. Each man was provided with suit
able clothing to ward of the effects of
the severe cold.
8. A few carried Martini Henri rifles
and explosive cartridges in case we
should come across any polar bears.
Marching four deep We halted at
every 300 yards and fixed a flagstaff
bearing the name of the ship. Ten of
these we deposited in the ice in this
manner, around which we intended
placing the sealskins, Each heap or
collection OF skins Is called by the hun
ter a hing The butchery "a some
thing terrible, and reused in ones
breast feelings of the deepest sympathy
but the work had to be done. After