544 FAMILY 



but other risks attend these hardy adventurers. Although the 

 present connection is not the place for an extended history of 

 the disasters incident to the seal-fishery, a single incident in 

 illustration of the danger arising from sudden storms overtak- 

 ing the seal-hunters when absent from their vessels may here 

 appropriately find place. Scoresby relates, on trustworthy au- 

 thority, the following that befel the sealing fleet in the Jan 

 May en Seas in 1774 : 



" Fifty-four ships, chiefly Hamburghers, were that year fitted 

 out for the seal-fishery alone, from foreign ports. Most of these, 

 with several English ships, had, in the spring of the year, met 

 together on the borders of the ice, about sixty miles to the east- 

 ward of the island of Jan Mayen. On the 29th of March, when 

 the weather was moderate, the whole fleet penetrated within 

 some streams of ice, and sent out their boats in search for seals. 

 While thus engaged, a dreadful storm suddenly arose. So sud- 

 den and furious, indeed, was the commencement, and so tre- 

 mendous and lasting the continuance, that almost all the people 

 who were at a distance from their ships perished." After giv- 

 ing a detailed account of the loss of various ships, as well as 

 boats' crews, he says, " The result of these disasters, when 

 summed up, is dreadful. About 400 foreign seamen, and near 

 200 British, are said to have been drowned ; four or five ships 

 were lost, and scarcely any escaped without damage." * 



Although accidents attended with such great fatality are for- 

 tunately of rare occurrence, doubtless not a year passes without 

 the loss of numerous vessels and many lives. 



Most writers who have given any account of the Seal-fish- 

 ery refer to the uncertainties of the catch, owing to circum- 

 stances wholly beyond the knowledge or control of the sealers. 

 As already stated, a good trip is a matter of chance rather 

 than of foresight or judicious management on the part of the 

 master of the vessel. This uncertainty arises mainly from the 

 unstable character of the ice-floes, which vary in their course 

 with the prevailing direction of the wind and the combined ac- 

 tion of the winds and currents. While the Seals congregate 

 annually on the ice-fields of the same general region, and bring 

 forth their young with surprising regularity as regards season, 

 the place of rendezvous is constantly variable. In like manner 

 the course of the vessel is greatly at the mercy of the elements, 

 or under the control of wholly unforeseen circumstances. The 



* Arctic Regions, vol. i, pp. 513-517. 



