114 Cruise of the ^' Alerts 



500 sealskins, which he sold to a German dealer on shore, at the 

 rate of 30^'. a skin, this being considered a good price for Sandy- 

 Point, and generally only given for the first arrivals in port ; 

 cargoes arriving late in the season not realizing more than 2$s. 

 a skin. In the present state of the home market, furs being in 

 request, these skins, on being landed in England, whither they 

 are conveyed by the mail-steamers, are bought by the furriers 

 for about £4. apiece ; so that the dealers at Sandy Point make a 

 large profit by their share in the trade. Sealers fitting out at 

 Sandy Point also usually get their stores and provisions on credit, 

 and at an exorbitant valuation, from the same dealer to whom 

 they subsequently sell their skins. The produce of the skins, 

 moreover, as they are sold to the dealers at Sandy Point, is 

 divided into three equal lots, of which one is divided among the 

 crew, while the remaining two go to the owner, out of which 

 he has to pay for the provisions and stores consumed on the 

 cruise. It is calculated that the outlay on the stores swallows 

 up about one-third of the entire sum, so that eventually 

 about one-third of the value of the skins remains as the profit 

 of the owner. In a very good season, the master and owner of 

 a sealing schooner of thirty tons will make a clear profit of as 

 much as ;^2,ooo, while each man of the crew (usually twelve 

 in number) would get a share amounting to £So, on which to 

 spend the blank eleven months of the off-season in idleness and 

 debauchery. 



The Magellan sealing season extends over the months of 

 December and January. In or about the last week of November, 

 the fur seal [Arctoccphahis Falklandicns) and the sea lion {Otaria 

 jtibatd) "haul up" on the rocks of the outer coasts, and bring 

 forth their young. The breeding places, or " rookeries," which 

 they usually select, are small, low-lying, rocky islets, which are 

 exposed to the swell of the great ocean, and over which, in heavy 

 weather, the sea makes a more or less clean sweep. Situated as 

 these rocks arc, it is often a very difficult and dangerous matter 



