THE VOYAGE OF THE HURON AND THE HUNTRESS 



Huntress, reporting a total of 7,000 skins. There were 40 men on the O'Ca'tn 

 with Captain Winship. The name of his shallop is not yet known. Another seal- 

 ing master mentioned was "Captain Low in a large ship from Salem, with a 

 small Hemordite Brig as tender, and 60 men, arrived about the same time had 

 about 10,000 skins." Another vessel mentioned was the brig Julian, Captain 

 Holmes. 



But the most important portion of Captain Burdick's entry of February 1, 

 1821, was contained in his last sentence: 



". . . Likewise saw Captain Smith, the man that Discovered this Land 

 first. He had two vessels and 60 men, had got 45,000 skins. Latter 

 part strong gales. So ends." 



It was two years before to the month that Captain William Smith had first 

 "discovered this Land" in the brig Williams, and it was just a year before that 

 he had sailed his brig, on a return voyage, under the commission of Captain 

 Shirreff of the Royal Navy, with Lieutenant Edward Bransfield aboard. Now, 

 he was back on a straight sealing voyage. 



Here was an opportunity for a "gam" of which Captain Burdick must have 

 taken full advantage. The extent of the "Land," the existence of possible new 

 rookeries, and, of course, the exchange of opinion on the prospect of the com- 

 plete extermination of the seal were the natural topics. The sealing masters 

 all knew the imminent danger of this latter development in their slaughter of 

 the seals. The ships in Clothier Harbor alone had accounted for nearly 100,000 

 skins. '^^ 



Captain Burdick returned to Yankee Harbor on board the Stonington shallop 

 — the Hero, Captain Palmer — and they arrived back at 10 :00 p.m. on February 

 3. The next day, he reported the schooner Freegift, Captain Dunbar, of Ston- 

 ington, had left Yankee Harbor for North America, the first of the Fanning- 

 Stonington fleet to sail.'^^ 



On February 5 and 6, 1821, the log of the Huntress recorded "moderate 

 breezes south-southeast and pleasant wether." At this time the Cecilia was 

 busily engaged in sealing at Low Island; the Stonington sloop Hero had re- 

 sumed her cruising alongshore to the camp sites on the south beaches of Liv- 

 ingston Island; Captain Barnard in the Charity of New York and Captain 

 Upton in the Nancy of Salem, were getting skins at Greenwich and Roberts 

 islands, and Captain Winship in the O'Cain of Boston and Captain Ray of 

 the Harmony of Nantucket were getting skins at Nelson's and King George 

 islands, completing their cargoes preparatory to sailing for home. 



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