THE VOYAGE OF THE HURON AND THE HUNTRESS 



anchor in Bligh's Harbor in 3 fathoms . . . Ends with . , . cloudy un- 

 pleasant Weather with Snow." 



While the Cecilia and the whaleboats waited for Captain Bruno's party to 

 arrive, Captain Johnson came in with his shallop, ready to lend a helping hand. 

 The log of the Huron continues Captain Davis' narrative : 



". . . then we got under way and stood to the South & Westward in com- 

 pany for Sheriff's Cape at 11 p.m. Capt. Bruno came alongside in his boat 

 and 1 ported that he had examined the Beaches round Sheriffs Cape 

 and Saw but a very few Seal nothing to make an object to stop for. . . ." 



That was the end of the expedition. The undeclared war ended as suddenly 

 as it began, and the American sealers returned to their respective vessels at 

 Yankee Harbor. The Charity's crew probably accepted their defeat philosophi- 

 cally. From other evidence they were only one of several camp crews which had 

 to suffer a beating without recompense. A contemporary map of Livingston 

 Island designates one section of the northwest coast as "Robbery Beach. "*^ 



In an English sealer's account of his experiences in the South Shetlands, 

 "Narrative of . . . Thomas W. Smith," printed in Boston in 1844, there is an 

 account of the London sealer Hetty and her crew's landing in Blythe Bay in 

 1820 (probably November & December) and of being driven from certain 

 sections by their own countrymen in the grim competition for the seal pelts. 

 In one instance a fight with sealing clubs resulted in severe injury to several 

 men. 



But Captain Davis was not wholly satisfied with the result. He did not return 

 to Yankee Harbor with his companions. On the next day, he sent his first mate, 

 Mr. Goddard, with a whaleboat and crew, ashore at Shirreff's Cape. This was 

 the established base for the British sealers. The reconnoitering party found 

 out why Captain Bruno had wisely advised not to proceed further with the 

 attempt at force. Captain Davis states: 



". . . at 2 P.M. the Boat returned from Shore not being allowed to Land 

 as the English had collected in numbers say from 60 to 75 men, all armed 

 with Guns, Pistoles, & Swords and appeared in a hostile manner, Hoisted 

 in the Boat and Proceeded on to the westward. . . . Capt. Johnson bore 

 away for the North & East'd." 



[46] 



