THE SEAL FISHING. 41 



tied, it is used as a standard among the natives, and 

 should you meet one on land or ice and make in- 

 quiry concerning the distance . to a certain point the 

 answer would be one, two, three or four "gunshots, 

 sir" meaning 60, 120, 180 or 240 yards, as the case 

 might be. These guns, loaded with from four to six 

 inches of powder and a handful of about No. 3 buck- 

 shot, make a formidable weapon, and as a rule kick 

 backward almost as much as forward; and as they 

 frequently jump overboard into the water when fired 

 from the small boats, it is necessary to have them se- 

 curely fastened to one end of a stout rope, the other 

 end being attached to the boat, so that the gun can be 

 retrieved after the shot is fired, if it has attempted an 

 escape to the briny deep. Of later years 'the killing is 

 mostly done with a club, one end of which is armed 

 with a gaff or hook a light blow on the nose being 

 sufficient to stun the animal. Instantly the scalping 

 knife, which is ever ready in the belt, is brought into 

 use, and in a few moments the carcass is quivering on 

 the ice, stripped of its skin, to which the fat adheres. 

 The pelts are then dragged to the ship over the ice 

 and taken to port, where the skins and fat are sepa- 

 rated, the former being salted for exportation, and the 

 latter manufactured into oil at either St. John's or 

 Harbour Grace, where all the seal oil is manufactured. 



