ON SEALS AND SEALERS 167 



much depends on it a stray hunter has never yet 

 been abandoned. It costs a large sum to send these 

 vessels to the ice, and a " clean ship" means a 

 big loss to the merchant, and no money for the 

 men. 



Sharks, even in these latitudes, are not slow to 

 gather at the smell of slaughter, and can be caught 

 with boathooks between the pans. It is not a rare 

 thing for men to slip off the pans into the water, 

 and it requires no little skill to get out again with- 

 out help ; for the water, naturally, is very cold, 

 and one is apt again and again to slip off back 

 into the water while trying to climb on to the ice. 

 Acts of great heroism are performed sometimes in 

 rescuing a man thus endangered; in one case, the 

 pans being very small, it was not possible to stand 

 on one in order to pull the man out. The res- 

 cuer, therefore, quickly throwing off his outer gar- 

 ments, came jumping from piece to piece, making 

 a grab at the struggling man as he passed, trying 

 to push him on far enough for him to catch hold. 

 The second run he succeeded, but, of course, him- 

 self ran great peril in the attempt. The vessels 

 eventually, loaded to the gunwales if they have 

 been fortunate, return to ,St. Johns, every hole and 

 corner being used for stowing the pelts, so that at 

 times the crew will have to sleep wherever they 

 can find a dry spot, even on deck or in the boats. 



Once in harbour, the fat is separated and put into 

 enormous vats, the oil being squeezed out from the 



