THE ANTAUGTIC SEAL FlSllElf I KS. 40} 



ing A salute from another vessel, one of the guns being accidentally loaded with shot. This 

 happened at Wahoo, one of the Sandwich Islands. Metcalf was killed on the north tvest coast. 

 Both of these men made several successful voyages from Canton to the coast, lint the vessel 

 owners were never benefited. They spent it as they went along. Neither was well calculated for 

 such an enterprise. They were top-heavy with success. 



"In the year 1790 Elijah Austin, a very enterprising merchant of New Haven, Conn., fitted 

 out two vessels on a sealing voyage to the Falkland Islands, in consequence of the informa- 

 tion derived from Lady Haley's ship. These were the first vessels that undertook the fur-seal 

 skin voyages for the China market. One was commanded by Capt. Daniel Green, the other by 

 ('apt. Roswell Woodward, both men of uncommon enterprise. They were successful. They 

 obtained part of their skins at South Georgia. Captain Green only proceeded to Canton ; Captain 

 Woodward returned to America. On this voyage Captain Green circumnavigated the globe, and 

 was absent three years."* 



Besides the New Haven vessels mentioned by Mr. Townseud there were other vessels sent 

 out on fur-sealing voyages in 1790. Among these was one from Nantucket that cruised on the 

 coast of Africa; another was the ship Industry, Captain Patten, of Philadelphia, Captain Patten 

 with part of his crew, remained on one of the Tristan Islands from August. 1790, to April, 1791, for 

 the purpose of collecting fur-seal skins. During this time he obtained fifty-six hundred for the 

 Chinese market. 



The fishery rapidly grew, and it was not long before a dozen or more vessels were engaged in 

 carrying fur-seal skins to Canton from Falkland, South Georgia, Mas a-Fuera, and other islands 

 where seals were very abundant. In 1792 a full cargo of these skins was obtained at the Falk- 

 land Islands by the brig Betsey, of 100 tons, commanded by Captain Steele. In 1792 or 1793 the 

 .-hip Eliza, Capt. W. R. Stewart, secured a cargo of fur-seal skins at Mas-a-Fuera, and is reported 

 by Captain Delano to have been the first vessel to take a cargo of skins to Canton from that island. 

 From that date till about 1806 fur-seals were taken from Mas-a-Fneia by the millions. One of the 

 most successful voyages ever made in this business was that of the ship Neptune, previously 

 mentioned, and the particulars of which are given on a subsequent page. The voyage was 

 to the Falklands, and thence around Cape Horn to Mas-a-Fuera and China, where the skins 

 were exchanged for Chinese products that yielded over $260,000 in the New York market. 

 Another very profitable voyage was that of the brig Betsey, from 1797 to 1799, under Capt. Edmund 

 Fanning, of Stouingtou. The Betsey's cargo, of one hundred thousand fur seal skins, obtained 

 principally at Mas-a-Fuera, was exchanged at Canton for goods that yielded a net profit of $52,300 

 to the owners in New York. Many other very successful voyages were made, and the fur-seal 

 business was generally very prosperous for several years. 



THE FISHERIES FKOM: 1800 TO 1881. In the report of a congressional committee, communi- 

 cated to the Congress of the United States March 12, 1804, to whom had been referred a memo- 

 rial from citizens of New York and Hudson, in the State of New York, praying for alterations in 

 the navigation laws, we find references as follows to the state of the seal fisheries of the country 

 at that date : " The sea-elephant, like the seal, is understood to be amphibious. They are found 

 at many of the uninhabited islands of the great Southern Ocean, in particular at Kergnelen Land, 

 which, at certain seasons, they frequent in great numbers, and, as they make little resistance, are 

 easily taken by the fishermen. Several American vessels are stated to have been engaged in 

 this business, and the oil, being of an excellent quality, furnishes a valuable article of exportation 

 from this country to Europe. 

 * Manuscript diary of Eben Towsend, lent to the author of this report l>y Mr. Cluirli-n I'd rrmi, of New Haven, Conn. 



SEC. v, VOL. ii 26 



