Morning journal and courier., 1893-06-20
Sealing in the Antarctic.

A member of the recent British Antarc' tio expedition sends a long letter to the London Times, of which the following is an extract.
 up to this time several seals had been obtsined-the large seal, the white Antarc- tio seal and the sea leopard; also four dff- ferent kinds of penguins, including few of the large emperor penguins, and one seen in the nsighborhood of the Falklands. Besides these we had met with good many sheath billie, several snowy petrel, the blue petrel, the giant petrel, the stor my petrel, the cape pigeon, a gray gull, and later with many terms and few great petrel. Christmas eve and Christmas day, when we were fast to the foe, will long bs remembered by the members of the expe dition. There was a perfect calm; the sky, except at ths horizon, had & denee canopy of cumulus rolls, which rested on the summits of the western hills, and when the sun was just below the horizon the soft grays and blues of the clouds and the spotless wilderness of the ice as 1t float ed in the black and glossy sea were tinted with the most delicate of colors-rich pur- ples and rosy hues, blues and greens, pass luR ttAubiuccub ysho"s- the solitude of the vacant deck was grand and impressive, and perhaps more 60 since we had, for we'll nigh @ week, been drift ing among bsrgs with dense fog and very squslly weather. Nothing broke the calm peacsfulness; now a flock of the beautiful sheath-bills wonld hover round the vessel, flaming the limpid air with their wings of creamy wilderness, and over yonder was a foul carrion bird with outstretch,d wings feeding upon the gory corpse of slaugh- tered seal All was in such unison, all in l such perfect harmony; but it was a pass ing charm. Soon We had to think of more prossic things, and reluctantly we turned our thoughts to the cargo we were to seek.
 Ut was with the produce of seals that we were destined to fill 'ur ship, and till February 17th We were literally up to the neck in blood. All the sails are slowed !; the captain sits in the crows nest from early morning till late in ths evening; the [ two engineers. relieving one another, take charge of the enginee; the cook or the steward is on the lookout on deck or on the bridge; and the doctor takes the helm, unless he can manage to get away in the boats, in which case some other non-com bstsnt has to take his place; all the rest are away after plunder. Now full boat Is making its way to tbs ship. We steam | towards her. AS we near, the engines are stopped and she glides alongside. The | cook or the steward rushss from the look out, the doctor from the wheel, one work ing the steam winch and the other un- switching the skins, while the bost's crew swallow a hssty meal. The boat being un- loaded, they are of again for another fill.
 "The greatest rivalry exists between the boats crews. each endesvcring to get the greatest load for the day. Another boat is seen approaching. and away we 20 again dodging this piece of ice, charging tha. piece with our sturdy bows, boring away where the Ice lies closely packed, rounding this berg, and on to the next until we reach the boat, which Is down to the gun vale In the water, with its crew cautious, plying their oars ss they lie crouched upon their bloody load. So 1t goes on from day to day; hsy is made while the sun shines, and the pile of skins and blubber rises high upon the ships deck. Then comes a gale of wind, accompanied by fog. slset and snow, and we lay to under the lee of a stream of ice or Berg The deck be- comes busy with life, the blubber Is made eff and put into the tanks, and the ssins are ssltsd When the gale is over, at the end of two or three days, the next few days of calm weather are again taken ad- vantage of in the boats Thus the perl ods of gales and cslms which alternate in this part of the world come in quite con- vsniently for sealing. the produce obtained in the calm weather being made off dur ing the gales. We never experienced much swell, being sheltered by the land our work lying only a little east of Erebus and Terror Gulf With all hands and tho cook go necessarily occupied in the calm weather, all scientific observations were si 6 stsndstill, but iu the evening. and some times during the night, a few chance read ings could be obtained, and during gslel fairly copious meteorological notes wer, obtaiued.
 "The seals are very fonlIsh beasts. Tn, present generation have never seen man and they survey him open-mouthed anf fearful, during which process they are lsit low with club or bullet. Sometimes they are SO lazy with sleep that e man may diI them in the ribs with the muzzle of hil gun, and, wondering what is disturbing their siumbers, they fsi,e their heads
 which quickly fall pierced with a bullet There may only be one seal on a piece o
 Ice, which is usually the case with ths larger kind; but the smaller kinds lie 1T half, dozens and tens, and as many as for
 ty-seven were seen on one piece. Seldom do any escspe-one cartridge means on, seal. Besides the three seals mentione,
 we came Rcross fourth, large kind will
 a small head, small fore hippsIs, yer,
 thickly blubbered, and a more wooll!
 skin. The last day of our sealing we wer
 among a great host of the largest big
 headed seals, and as we wore returning t
 our ship they were moaning loudly. Thi
 was said to be e sign that they were abou
 to start upon a long journey, but was not rather e sigh of relief when they ssy
 their slsughterers' craft run up her buni
 ing and announce to all that she was
 full ship, that her thirst for blood va qaenchsd2 Psnguina are the stranges
 creatures ever seen. They are supremel funny ss they quack and strut about wit their padded feet over the tnow, or, com , ing to a slope, glide swiftly downward, te
 boggsn-f fashion upon their breasts If on
 lands on the piece of ice they are restin l upon they approach fesrlessly with ) threatening, "Quacki quackp For thei inquisitiveness they too often received th
 handle of the club, for 1t was soon foun |, Always Use PIaft,s Chlorides