i68 



seals, and consequently to the benefit of the hunters them- 

 selves and the public at large. The life of the seal-hunter 

 is one of extraordinary hardship ; he lives in close, dirty 

 quarters, saturated and greasy with the oil ; his food is of 

 the coarsest ; he can never call an hour his own, should he 

 have a successful season, and find seals plentiful, after he 

 has filled the hold of his vessel, he stows the skins in his 

 own quarters, sleeping and living amongst them with 

 admirable disregard of his own comfort. He seldom 

 changes his clothes from the commencement to the ter- 

 mination of the season. When he does indulge in the 

 luxury of a clean garment, he puts it on over the dirty 

 one, and is quite content when it likewise gets saturated 

 with the all pervading oil. 



The greatest hardship to be endured, however, by the 

 seal-hunter, is when, in addition to the privations and 

 difficulties inseparably connected with his occupation, he 

 fails to secure skins sufficient to pay some of the demands 

 of the store dealer ; he knows then, that after a period 

 of poverty and privation, he will start the following 

 season heavily handicapped by the debts of the previous 

 cruise. 



There is much that I have left unsaid upon this interest- 

 ing subject, but I must conclude by thanking you for the 

 patient and attentive hearing you have granted me. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. RIDLEY (acting Commissioner for Newfoundland) 

 said he had been much interested in the admirable paper 

 just read, and he thought Captain Temple had exhausted 

 the subject as far as it was possible for any one to do, 



