NEWFOUNDLAND IN THE 'SEVENTIES 197 



and bring down the stamp with a dull thud, com- 

 pressing the cod-fish into a compact mass. The 

 cask is then rolled out from under the press, and 

 handed over to two coopers. In a trice the hoops 

 are driven on, the cask is headed up, and then 

 trundled down an incline into the hold of some 

 vessel loading for the West Indies or some Mediter- 

 ranean port. The rapidity with which the whole 

 process is managed is remarkable. 



Sealing operations also are vigorously conducted 

 by the inhabitants of St. John's. In former days 

 the seal fishery was carried on in sailing vessels, 

 and was attended with considerable danger ; but 

 now that steamships are used the risk is much 

 diminished. The paying nature of the business 

 may be gathered from the fact that steamers of 

 five or six hundred tons burden, built and fitted 

 for the purpose, and quite useless for any other 

 trade, make a large profit in average years, although 

 the sealing season lasts only a month or six weeks. 

 Early in the spring, about the beginning of March, 

 the ice from the north strikes in towards the 

 eastern coast of NeviH[oundland, bringing with it 

 hundreds and hundreds of thousands of seals, young 

 and old. Then St. John's wakes up, and the whole 

 island is in a bustle. Though it entails constant 



