Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1890-05-23
ARCTIC SEALING.
How The Newfoundland Hunt
ers Capture Their sPrey.
Slaughtering the Animals
Among the lcebergS.

Describing what he saw while on a
Newfoundland sealing vessel among
the northern ice foes, writer in the
New York Times says: As the morn
ing frightened out the seals could be
seen with the naked eye, scattered here
and there in little coveys and lying
quite still. How 81 orious the sight
was when the clear, bright sun arose
out of the distant eastl Every where
stretched white cleaning field; the
SUBMITS of the bergs sentineling tho
foe caught the sun first and fairly
quivered and scintillated In fame.
The side turned to tho east was burn
ing gold; the side away from the sun
was steel blue. Birds which make
these icy peaks their home till they
reach their breeding haunts further in
the south rose and circled in swarms
about the top of the berg. But when
the sun rose about the smooth ice level
it sent long spears of yellow fire, so
numerous and so brightSthat you could
not look at the pathwaylof scintillating
light.
1t needs no orders from the Captain
to get the men out ON the ice such a
morning as this. Every man of them,
except the regular crew, sailed forth,
his gaff in his hand. The gaff is q
weapon with stout wooden handle
and steel spear and gripping con-
trivance at the end. This is the hun
ter's weapon of slaughter. He carries
coil of rope on his shoulder and his
great knife in his belt.
He has no fear on this foe, for all
the armies of the world and all their
horses may rest upon it with safety. 1t
consists of vast agglomeration of
''pans" or "cakes, frozen together and
compact except when the foe begins to
break up. Ocean ice always folms in
this way, and never in great sheets, as
on rivers and still water. The wintry
ocean waves are forever in motion,
which would break up large areas of
thin ice. The bergs are regular ocean
wanderers and get imprisoned by the
flat ice, but they break away as the
spring advances and have a fondless for
the track of ocean ships. OF all other
floating things they are, in foggy
weather, the most deadly menace to
ships.
The writer went out for slaughter
with great brawny hunter who soon
showed how the work was done. Here
and there on a broad ice pan was
covey of three, four or five seals, all
summing themselves, and apparently
sucking the ice. They have no other
food in this wilderness so far as can be
seen. They go on the ice to bring
forth their oung, and also perhaps to
get free ride down from Greenland to
Newfoundland d and the shores of the
Canadian provinces.
They seldom make much effort to get
away as you come up to them, but the
hunters declare that there is look of
terror in their soft, dark eyes, and they
have, moreover, the firm belief that the
seal sheds tears. Lifting his heavy gaff
the hunter strikes the animal on the
head, str likes every one of them in the
group, then taking out his knife he
strips off the pelt by opening the ami
NAL back and front down to the lean
meat. The skin, which is gray, goes
with the blubber or fat, and the carcass
is left on the ice. These pelts are left
where they are till all the animals in
convenient radius have been secured.
Then, ty ing several of the pelts together
the hunter proceeds to collect them,
putting them all together, and marking
them with miniature flag from his
ship.
Here ls the advantage of the steamer
she can work her way up, following the
lead of the men from day to day pick
ing up the pelts. The sailing vessel
remains where she gets fast, and the
hunters are oliged to drag their trophies
for miles over the ice. They get lame
at first from ice travel and they all get
ice blind unless they wear green gog-
giles, as they call that kind of glasses.
The seal is not the valuable fur ami
NAL from which ladies' jackets and
muffs are obtained; he is known as q
white coat, and the fur is not in much
request, being coarse and presenting a
bristly appearance. In about a week