Year: 1876

THE SEAL FISHERY

 How the Seals are Cau9ht..Incidents of the

 WOrk---DanGer ali Around.

 An interesting letter on the seal fishery is published in the World. The writer gives the following incidents of the work

 The aim of the hunters is to reach the young seals which lie cradled on the ice, in "patches or groups, somewhere in the vast ice covered area extending be- tween two and three hundred miles from our shores. There they lie during the first four or five weeks of their exist ence, fed by their mothers milk, and growing fat at an enormous rate. Armed with their {" gaffs or iron bound clubs, the seal hunters on getting among the 'swhite coats leap on the ice, and then commences the slaughter of the inno- cents." A blow on the nose from the "gaff" stuns or kills the young seal, and instantly the knife is at work; the skin and adhering fat are detached with amazing rapidity from the carcass, which is left on the ice, still quivering with life, while the fat and skin alone are car ried off. The fact that each seal slaughtered is worth $3 gives zest and energy to the bloody work. Fancy the crew of one of our largest steamers, numbering three hundred, on an ice

 field, eagerly carrying on their murder ous work; their persons smeared with blood and fat. the ice stained with gore and dotted with the skinless carcasses of the slain; "the shivering seals low moans," like the cries of babies in dis tress. filling the air. The shouts of the hunters; the blows of the "gaffs as they dispatch their victims; the blood that covers the hands and arms of the men and stains the virgin snow; the car casses denuded of skin and fat, and yet palpitating with warm life, as they are flung on the ice; the eager, exultant hunters, staying, "sculping," hauling the loads of fat to the ship-what scene amid these ice solitudes of the ocean, with the bright sun in the heavens light ing up the gittering pinnacles and far spreading fields of ice. On the deck men are moving about knee-deep in fat and blood, as there the pelts are piled previous to being slowed under the hatches when cooled. The hunters ar rive with their loads of fat, snatch nasty moment to drink bowl of tea, and are off presently in search of new victims.

 The poor mother seals, now cubless, are seen popping their heads up in the small lakes of water, anNously looking for their snow-white darlings, and refus- ing to believe that the bloody carcasses on the ice are all that remains of their tender offspring. With moan of dis tress they plunge into the water, as if anxious to escape from a scene polluted by the ensanguined trail of the hunters. The maternal instinct is very strong in the seals. The mothers remain near their young, fishing in the neighbor- hood, and returning occasionally to give them suck. It is a most curious fact that when the ice is unbroken each mother seal has it's own hole by which it reaches the water, and which it takes care to keep from freezing. On return ing from fishing excursion extending over fifty or hundred miles, each is able to find it's own hole and, among thousands of others, at once to distin- guish it's own snow-white cub-hy the sense of smell, it is believed-which it proceeds to fondle and suckle. This is one of the most wonderful achievements of animal instinct. The young are scat the absence of the mothers the ice, borne on the current, has shifted it's position many miles-yet each is able to find her own ice hole and to pick out her own darling from the immense herd with un- erring accuracy.

 At times the hunters have to push for ward over the ice two or three miles from the vessel in pursuit of the seals, and should 8 fog or snow storm set in there is terrible risk of losing their way and perishing miserably on these ice deserts, or of falling through the openings which are covered with snow. Sometimes the ice field on which they are at work separates without mo- ment's warning, and they are foated off to lie down and die on the ice, unless rescued by some other vessel of the fleet. Or perhaps furious northeaster blows, rafting" the ice or piling the huge blocks one upon another all around the imprisoned ship, andat length crush ing her like nutshell and leaving the unhappy sealers shivering and perishing with hunger on the floating ice fields. Sometimes their sufferings are very great, but on the whole, such are their skill and fortitude in meeting all emer- gencies, and such their acquaintance with the manners and movements of the ice, that comparatively few mishaps oc- cur. The very dangers of the seal hunt present an irresistible charm of excite ment to these daring men who have been nurtured amid such perils. Be- sides, it is thus they win the bread for their wives and little ones at home; and how happy to be able to enter port with enough to keep the wolf from the door and gladden. the hearts of those who on shore are longing and praying for their success.