THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 319 



South Pole. She is a bark-rigged, three-masted 

 steamer of four hundred tons, carrying 160 men for 

 a sealing crew. She is an old-timer, for she was built 

 in Scotland in 1884. 



The crews of the sealers are hardy, adventurous 

 men, since they are continually beset with perils and 

 hardships. The seals are usually hunted on ice-floes 

 where a misstep means a plunge into icy water. The 

 most common weapons used in hunting seals are rifles 

 and clubs. The killing is in most cases little more than 

 butchery, for most species of seals are dull-witted 

 creatures that are not greatly disturbed by the 

 approach of the hunter. The bladder-nose seal and 

 the saddleback are exceptions to this rule and are so 

 wary that they are approached with difficulty. These 

 seals are usually taken with a rifle. Nets, seal boxes, 

 seal hooks, and harpoons are also used for the cap- 

 ture of seals. 



Formerly seal oil was prepared by stripping the 

 blubber from the seal and placing it in large tanks 

 where it was allowed to decompose. From time to 

 time, the oil, liberated by the decomposition of the 

 tissues, was drained from the tank. After about three 

 months, the remaining decomposed fatty mass was 

 boiled with water to render the remainder of the oil. 

 Such a procedure was very crude and produced a 

 very poor quality of oil. Now the oil is obtained by 

 treating fresh minced blubber with live steam in large 

 inclosed tanks. The oil and water emulsion obtained 

 in this way is separated by passing it through a 

 series of settling tanks. The finished product is 

 termed steam-refined oil. Upon cooling to low tem- 



