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truck system formerly pursued in our own manufacturing 

 districts. I am bound to say, however, that this applies 

 almost entirely to the native (that is to say, the Chilian or 

 Argentine sealers), for the 'cuter American sealer is not so 

 easily got over, and, as a rule, makes a fairer bargain. The 

 stores, consisting of bread, flour, tea, coffee, sugar, beef, and 

 pork, having been sent aboard, not forgetting a supply of 

 Matte, the Paraguagan tea, and the great consoler of the 

 South American, having been shipped, and all preliminaries 

 as to the disposal of the expected take of furs concluded, 

 the sealer proceeds to his grounds ; there are two articles, 

 however, which I have omitted, and which are essential, 

 viz., a quantity of salt with which to preserve the skins, and 

 barrels in which to stow them for shipment, and so fully 

 equipped, the sealer takes his leave of the settlement. 

 The weather to the eastward of Port Famine is more settled 

 than that generally encountered to the westward, where 

 rain falls in torrents for nine months out of the year. 

 Violent squalls, locally called " woolly-wahs " sweep through 

 the gullies, and great care and caution have to be exer- 

 cised in the navigation of the small vessels engaged in this 

 hazardous and precarious business. An accident, such as 

 the loss of a spar, may be fatal to the enterprise, as it 

 would necessitate the return of the sealer to the settle- 

 ment, causing thereby much loss of valuable time, and 

 allowing other vessels to have the pick of the best 

 rookeries. Arrived upon their sealing grounds, the schooner 

 selects a rookery upon which the seals are expected to 

 congregate, and there detaches a portion of her crew with 

 about three months' provisions, for their subsistence until 

 the vessel shall return at the end of the season to take 

 them off, together with the take of furs they have secured. 

 The vessel then cruizes about in the channels, with a 



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