OLD WHALING DAYS. 69 



piece of ice. It was blowing hard at the time I landed. In 

 jumping out of the boat it drifted away before the man had 

 time to secure it, leaving me alone on the ice with only one 

 club. When I struck at the head of the male seal he seized 

 the club with his mouth and wrenched it out of my hands. 

 In the meantime two more men landed with their clubs, and 

 another one for me. But the furious animal evaded our 

 blows. We found our weapons useless, so returned on board 

 for a rifle, and quickly despatched them, the crew on board 

 having a hearty good laugh to see us retreat. The male is 

 a most courageous fellow, and will not leave his partner, 

 but will stay by her until he is killed. Some have a severe 

 fight with a bear before they give in. Having tried in vain 

 to fall in with the seals, our thoughts turned to the prospect 

 of whaling in Davis's Straits, but a sudden heavy gale 

 arose from the eastward, and being close to the pack we 

 were forced to enter it, with a heavy sea running. The 

 strong little ship got a short distance inside and came in 

 contact with a heavy piece of ice which her weight would 

 not force aside. This made her broach to and lie 

 thumping and bumping for several hours. We had to cut 

 up several warps and make them into small coils to protect 

 her sides from the sharp corners of the ice. This work 

 required the attention of all hands during the whole time. 

 At daylight the following day the gale moderated, and the 

 swell went down. It took us three days to get into clear 

 water, and according to our instructions proceeded for 

 Davis's Straits with a fair wind. Our garland was put up on 

 the ist of May, honouring that auspicious occasion with a 

 similar ceremony to that observed in crossing the line, 

 particulars of which will be found in a subsequent chapter. 

 Nothing particular occurred until we arrived off Black 

 Hook, on the north side of N.E. Bay. There we fell in 

 with the Davis's Straits fleet, bound north towards Melville 

 Bay, and spoke the Emma, of Hull. They had wintered 



