198 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



exposure to great cold, and extremely hard work, 

 the young men struggle eagerly to secure a berth 

 for the sealing season, for they earn very high wages, 

 and the business is salted with that element of un- 

 certainty and danger which adds such a relish to 

 life. At length everything is ready, and a fleet 

 of steamers from St. John's, and of sailing craft, 

 of all kinds and sizes from large coasting schooners 

 down to open boats, issuing from every bay, start 

 out to look for the ice. The ships, crowded with 

 as many men as they can hold, make two trips of 

 about a fortnight's duration each ; the first being 

 devoted to the capture of the young seals, at that 

 time only a few weeks old, and the second to the 

 destruction of the full-grown animals. The latter 

 are generally shot, while the former are knocked on 

 the head with clubs. As soon as the ice is reached, 

 the men scatter themselves about the field, running 

 over the rough surface, jumping from block to 

 block of loose ice, tumbling into holes and scramb- 

 ling out again, wild with excitement in their search 

 for seals. Each man acts independently, doing the 

 best he can for himself. When he has killed a seal 

 he stops but a minute to whip off the skin with 

 the blubber attached, and fasten a cord to it, and 

 then off again after another seal, till he has got 



