Washington sentinel., 1899-06-10
u, - SENTINEL
Huntincthe Greenland Seal.
BadmiHk01 Magazine.

and from its hardy breed Of men,
who rowing the lnhospitable
Northern seas with the daring of
the ancient Vikings, possess them
selves OF spoils OF FISH and man.
malian life which Nature in vain
locks up for the best part OF the
year with iron letters Of frost and
ice. Her harborS-narTow gate
ways between desolate cliffs Of
rock-are supposed to have shell
tered Iceland navigators as early as
the year 1000. Sebastian Cabot on
June "a, 1897, before Columbus
had discovered the mainland Of
America. is said to have chTistened
the island after the Apostle St.
John. 1t is certain thatin 1904 the
Basque and Breton fishermen cast
their lines on the banks oil New
foundland. jacques Cartier in
1884 skirted the bleak and iron
bound coasts of the island, which
he deemed to be "the portion Of
the earth that God allotted to
Cain" In 1888 that brave sea dog
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in the name
OF Queen Elizabeth, took posses
sion of the harbor of St, Johns, IN
which he found collected thirty-siX
sails OF different nationalitIes.
Thence venturing forth into re-
gions OF storm and Arctic tides, the
only record Of his fate remaining
is that "at midnight the lights Of
the Squirrel suddenly disap-
peared," a terrible gale raging,
while his last message from those
wild Northern seas "We are as
near heaven by sea as by land" to
the consort ship the Golden Hind
is still ringing down the centuries.
"Swile hunting" as Newfound-
landers term the annual expedition
after the Greenland seal, or "going
on the ice" is an industry peculiar
to the island. With them a seal is
always a "swile," a sealer or seal
ing vessel a ''swiler." Nature
near the North Pole is constantly
turning out vast quantities OF ice
and seals, which about the break
up of the winter drift down towards
the ATTITUDES of Newfoundland, on
the Arctic current. Hence It hap
pens that when the end OF Febru-
ary comes vast herds OF mammal
ian lite cover the ice fields within
reach OF man. Their unparalleled
numbers defy adequate descrip-
tion. Sometimes zoe, 900 are seen
on a single foe "whelping" or
throwing their young, who whine
and cry like babies, the most as
tonishing thing about 1t being that
each mother returning to suckle
her infant hnds the particular hole
in the ice whence she emerged
among thousands exactly like it.
The young are appropriately
called "whitecoats," being fat,
downy, white little masses Of blub-
Der, with voracious appetite, grow
ing with such incredible rapidity
that at the end of fourteen days
their "pelt" (that is hide with fat
attached) weighs from forty to
fifty pounds. They then become
articles OF commerce, a baby seal,
from the superior quality OF the
oil, being valued at about 6s.,
while an adult is worth I2s. Their
pursuit is almost the only means
OF work in winter to afford the pop
ulation livelihood, and dire is the
suffering when the seal harvest
fails. The winters OF 1894, 1895
and 1896 were disastrous, owing to
extra heavy ice in vast sheets,
which was piled up by gales to an
incredible thickness.
Ice in all its forms is the great
6ete uofye IN a Newfoundlander's
existence, and many quaint terms
are applied to its varying forms.
There is "swish" ice, ice ground
up into fine pieces; pans" Of ice,
meaning simply fiat cakes; "slob"
ice, ice broken up into rather big
Jumps, which is also known as
"lolly." There are 'conkerbills,"
or huge icicles. There is the
mysterious anchor" ice, which
frequently encases anchors and
rocky sea bottoms and the cords
of sunken nets till they resemble
rushlights. Then there are the
giant icebergs, and the "growlers,"
or large blocks of floating ice,
drifting before the wind, melting
underneath. until they occasionally
lose their equilibrium and turn
over with a noise like a groWl.
One year was significantly known
as "the year of the GROWERS" from
the number of fatal disasters that
occurred from collisions with
them. One cannot withhold ad-
from the brave, hardy
handsful Of men who 60 forth as a
matter of course TO an occupation ]
fraught with such risks and tolls |
among Arctic ice foes, where at |
every step they are called upon to
face the most appalling dangers.
Perchance a splitting ice foe may
carry them miles away from their
ship, or their return be rendered |
55IIfftl6H1E, o5eWnaefiSai9gl1 sn66%%stEoSfIm, 6% form
Perchance their steamship may be |
crushed by the rafting" OF heavy
Ice, or be jammed against the iron
coast by the packing OF the ice, or
may pierce her plates against the
Jagged points Of a berg. AS an
offset to such dangers are to be
set, on the other hand, the fascinat.
ing charm Of hopes Of fortunes
'aVors-too often Elusive; the stir
Of the blood that IS born oil the
conflict with the wild play OF the