ON SEALS AND SEALERS l6l 



are queer-looking craft to the unaccustomed eye 

 these steam sealers of about 300 to 400 tons burden, 

 with their outside thick sheathing of hard wood, 

 called u ice chocks," and their huge double stems, 

 filled between with from nine to twelve feet of 

 solid oak, built for charging through floe ice. For 

 when shut in the steamer will back far enough to 

 gain good impetus, and then dash full at the weakest 

 part of the floe. Usually the sloping forepost 

 allows the vessel to rise up on to the ice, the 

 great weight then breaking down into clear water. 

 Anything loose on deck is of course upset, as are 

 any of the crew who happen not to be holding 

 some support. All are rigged with three masts, 

 and can sail as well as steam ; and the screw 

 being fixed in a slot can easily be pulled up out of 

 the water at these times. Each masthead is fitted 

 with a barrel or crow's nest, from which a careful 

 look-out for seals is constantly maintained. When 

 once discovered, the next thing is to keep them to 

 yourself, and, if possible, mislead any other vessels 

 near, who might be apt to join in and so lessen 

 your prize. A captain, well known for his success, 

 was lately dogged in this way by a fresh hand. To 

 mislead his rival the captain steamed into one of the 

 large bays, where, it so happened, he got frozen in 

 while the raw hand, turning out, caught a full 

 voyage. 



Once alongside the floe, the men jump off on to the 

 ice, and at once the work begins. Sometimes they 



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