METHODS OF CAPTURE NEWFOUNDLAND SEALING. 535 



greatly to the detriment of the interests of the sealers them- 

 selves, as they thus disturb the Seals at a time when they should 

 be left in peace, or before the "whelpiug-tinie" is over. He 

 strongly advocates the prohibition by government of the depar- 

 ture of any vessels for the sealing-grounds before March 5 to 

 10, and of steamers before the 10th to the 15th of the same 

 month, since otherwise, he observes, " the seal-fishery of New- 

 foundland may soon, and very soon, dwindle away to such a 

 character that it will not be worth the risk of money to prose- 

 cute it." 



The vessels employed in the sealing business are "pounded 

 off in the hold," or divided into small compartments to pro- 

 tect the pelts from injury by friction, as well as to preserve the 

 cargo from shifting. The pelts are allowed to thoroughly cool 

 before they are stowed, and are packed " hair to fat to prevent 

 the fat from ' running.'" The owners of sealing- vessels " find all 

 the boats, sealiug-gear, powder, shot, and provisions, in consid- 

 eration of which they are entitled to one half of the seals ; the 

 men are entitled to the other half. In steamships the owners 

 find everything required for the prosecution of the voyage, and 

 receive two-thirds of the value of the seals, and the men one- 

 third."* 



The voyages are attended with much danger, great hardship, 

 and uncertainty of results, a "good trip" being entirely a mat- 

 ter of chance. Not unfrequently the vessels become "jammed 

 in the ice",' and if not crushed in the pack-ice, may be detained 

 for weeks before being able to force their way to the ice-floes 

 which form at this season the grand rendezvous of the Seals. 

 The incidents and dangers ordinarily attending a sealing voy- 

 age, as well as the manner of capturing and disposing of the 

 Seals, have been so graphically set forth by Professer Jukes in 

 his entertaining and instructive work entitled "Excursions in 

 Newfoundland", that I transcribe in this connection portions 

 of his account of a sealing cruise participated in by him in 

 March, 1840, in the brigantme "Topaz", Captain Furueaux, of 

 St. John's, Newfoundland. Having, after a week's arduous 

 cruise, fallen in with the Seals and captured a few young ones, 

 he says: "We soon afterwards pass*ed through some loose ice 

 on which the young seals were scattered, and nearly all hands 

 were overboard, slaying, skinning, and hauling. We then got 

 into another lake of water and sent out five punts. The crews 



* Carroll, Seal and Herring Fishery of Newfoundland, p. 9. 



