84 The Sea Elephant 



lack of speed and agility, he cannot feed upon swift- 

 moving creatures). Once they abounded in immense 

 herds upon all the islands in the Antarctic Ocean, 

 notably Kerguelen's Land and the South Shetland. 

 To those barren spots vessels repaired with crews that 

 were ready for any fate. These men were landed upon 

 those awful solitudes, just bare rocks set in a roaring 

 desolate sea, without a green thing to gladden the eye, 

 and with the almost perpetual rage of the ocean en- 

 deavouring to daunt them. They had only the most 

 impromptu shelter, their food was of the coarsest, 

 intoxicating drink was unknown among them, and in 

 this forlorn condition they lived for six months at a 

 time, without seeing other faces or hearing other voices 

 than those of their own little company. In the chase 

 of the Sea Elephant, they ran terrible risks, endured 

 incredible hardships, and their reward after a successful 

 voyage worked out at something like los. per week. 

 Only the hide and blubber were sought, the Elephant 

 Seal having no fur. 



My own recollection of this miserable business is 

 a brief one, but quite lengthy enough to make me 

 thankful that I shall never repeat the experience. In 

 an evil hour I engaged to proceed from New Zealand 

 to the Auckland and Campbell Islands in search of Sea 

 Elephants, being assured that it was not only exciting 

 sport, but a very pleasant pastime. Alas, for the 

 depravity of humanity ! Could anything be less 

 worthy of the title of pastime than that ? And 

 yet I am sure that, as compared with similar work 

 upon such terrific rock-bound islets as the South 

 Shetlands or South Georgia, it might even be called 

 sport or pastime. For the Auckland and Campbell 

 Islands in summer have a garment of vegetation, and 

 there are many flowers. There are also trees, and 



