48 THE LIFE OF PHILIP HENRY GOSSE. 



each man was allowed to take up goods on the credit of 

 the voyage, to a certain amount, perhaps one-third, or even 

 one-half, of his probable earnings. The clerks were the 

 judges of the amount. For these goods both planter and 

 crew applied at the office, in order, and received tickets, or 

 " notes," for the several articles. In the busy season the 

 registering of these notes, delivering'the goods, and enter- 

 ing the transactions in the books would occupy the whole 

 staff until late into the night. 



In his Introductioit to Zoology (i. no) my father has 

 given the details of the seal-fishery, on which, as he was 

 never personally cognizant of them, I need not dwell. But 

 the preparation of the seal-fleet for starting was the busiest 

 time of the year to him, the North Shore, and particularly 

 Carbonear, being, from the ist to the i/th of March, all 

 alive with a very active, noisy, rude, and exacting popula- 

 tion. During this fortnight, life was a purgatory for the 

 clerks, who were besieged from morning till night by these 

 vociferous and fragrant fellows. By St. Patrick's Day, 

 however, it was a point of honour for all the sealers to 

 have sailed, and thence, until the middle of April, when 

 the more fortunate schooners began to return, the 

 counting-house kept a sort of holiday. Then, once more, 

 a press of work set in. The seal-pelts brought home were 

 delivered in tale, all the accounts incurred had to be 

 settled, and amounts due to the successful crews to be paid 

 them. This had to be done partly in cash — the Spanish 

 dollar of four shillings and twopence sterling passing for 

 five shillings — and partly in goods, which involved more 

 "notes." The planters' accounts, too, had to be squared 

 and the profit or loss on the voyage of each determined. 



By this time May would be far advanced, and now all 

 was hurry, almost exactly a repetition of the scenes in 

 March ; on this occasion, the cod-fishery being prepared 



