THE VOYAGE OF THE HURON AND THE HUNTRESS 



bulk," and the tame seal were defenseless with no apprehension of their fate. 



Here was booty, rich, limitless — a veritable harvest in gold coin. The first 

 to reach these shores would reap fortunes. It is no wonder that the watchword 

 of the sealer for decades had been secrecy itself; that they carefully guarded 

 all information as to these new rookeries. A successful voyage meant a second 

 profit with the purchase of a cargo of Chinese goods as the vessels sailed to 

 Canton for the sale of the seal pelts to the eager hong merchants. But the hunt 

 for the seal led to virtual extermination of the species. 



While the indiscriminate slaughter of the seals In the South Shetlands was 

 a sad feature of an otherwise thrilling story of maritime adventure, it is not 

 the whole story. Despite their brutal trade, which made them realists in its 

 fullest sense, the captains, officers and men were not all reckless, cynical and 

 dissolute. True, they lived a hard life of necessity, but their fragmentary records 

 reveal them as resourceful mariners, fully aware of their danger but willing 

 to risk their lives In their hazardous calling. 



[9] 



