THE GREENLAND SEAL THE BEARDED SEAL. 237 



of ice. Into the broken-up floes they now and again push their way, and as fortune wills it they may 

 or may not discover from the mast-head a herd in the distance. Occasionally, even during the night, 

 the noise of a family in these dismal regions will be heard, and the ship is soon made fast to the ice 

 hard by, for the Seals during the breeding season frequent such areas of the ice as enable them to have 

 easy access to the water. Then all becomes activity and excitement on board, every man having an 

 interest and share in the expected plunder. The object is, if possible, to approach unperceived, sur- 

 round, or get between the animals and the water, and, above all, to secure the young, which are more 

 easily killed, and the more lawful prey. The sealers are provided with spiked clubs, sharp knives, 

 seal-guns, and " ruer-ruddies," or ropes attached by broad belts over their shoulders. Watching their 

 chance the men land in bands, approach cautiously, and commence their dreadful operations. The old 

 Seals abide and guard their young, even endangering their own safety, and will raise themselves up, 

 face, and severely bite the unwary hunter. Crack, crack go the guns, as the older animals endeavour 

 to escape through the holes or towards the water. All and sundry are attacked; a blow of the club, 

 or kick of a heavy sea-boot, despatches the young, while the more aged receive rougher usage ere they 

 succumb. The work of murder goes on apace without stoppage, for once disturbed, no second chance 

 may be allowed the hunter. Told off in batches, some of the men commence the work of skinning, and 

 quickly turn out hide and blubber, throwing aside the (to them) useless carcass, while the skins are 

 heaped in piles. Some collect these, fasten bundles by the rope, and drag them towards the boats, 

 where other sailors are ready to receive them. Thus the murderous operation goes on while there is 

 Seal to be killed, or weather permits the men to remain on the floe, for sometimes the latter will break 

 up, a gale arise, and the poor fellows run even other untold risks. As for the personal appearance of 

 the sealers, as they labour at the work of slaughter, they look the most ruffianly set of men in 

 existence. They are dressed in the queerest caps and coats of various shapes, with smuggler-looking 

 breeches and long boots ; moustaches and beards are covered with a mass of frozen tobacco-juice, 

 hoar-frost, and Seal's blood. Their matted hair, gory, greasy, unwashed faces and hands, reek and 

 smell with a strong taint of butchery. In truth, a spectator, seeing the lot, might almost fancy 

 himself back amongst some of the old bloodthirsty pirates of the Spanish Main. However, they 

 work very hard for their hire. The hides are dropped pell-mell into the hold, and as soon as 

 suiting time arrives, the blubber is sliced off, the skins roughly salted, and in this condition the 

 material is retained for the few weeks until their voyage leads the " fishers " home again. Arrived 

 at Dundee, the cargo is quickly landed, weighed, and the materials placed in the hands of the 

 skinner. The fat is cut up by a variety of cutters driven by steam, and then steamed to facilitate 

 the rendering of the oil. The greater part of the oil thus obtained is tasteless, inodorous, and pure 

 as water. The remaining blubber, after the first oil is taken off, is placed in bags and pressed, and 

 from these pressings most of the brown and inferior quality of oil is had. The former is by far the 

 more valuable. Seal-oil has, of course, varied considerably in price during this century, in 1876-7 

 averaging 32 a ton, the inferior sort less in proportion. With regard to the skins, these, after being 

 soaked, and the salt got rid of, pass through the usual tanning processes. Relative absence of under- 

 fur gives value only to the leather. Roughly speaking, they fetch five to six shillings apiece. 



THE BEARDED SEAL.* About this animal there seems to be a certain amount of ambiguity, or want 

 of agreement among naturalists, whether more than one species be not included under the Ph. barbata 

 of Fabricius. This missionary refers to the " Ursuk," the big, fat, or great Seal of the Greenlanders. 

 The Russian naturalists Steller, Pallas, and Middendorf, speak of a Seal by different appellations, but 

 most evidently this animal, as inhabiting the neighbourhood of Behring Strait and Kamstchatka. 

 Schrenck and Temminck refer to it as being found, the former on the coast of Amoor land, the 

 latter in Japan, where its skin is sold as an article of commerce. The Leporine Seal of Pennant 

 may be regarded as still another synonym of the same creature. If such be the case, this great Bearded 

 Seal has a geographical range from the west of Greenland to the Sea of Japan, an area somewhat corre- 

 sponding to that of the Saddle-back, though less spread in the North Atlantic. Rink alludes to it as 

 the " Thong Seal," the Eskimo cutting the skin circularly into a long strip, which " allunak," or hide 

 rope, they vise for harpoon lines. About 1,000 are captured annually on the Greenland coast. Dr. R. 

 Brown regards it as the " Ground Seal " of the Spitzbergen sealers, and says that the blubber is most 



* Phoca barbata. 



