THE ANTARCTIC SEAL FISHERIES. 433 



" After having men landed through several spells of bad weather from different quarters, if 

 they are at all observing they will see and take the bearings of all the shoal places, and by so doing 

 they will make it easier for the vessel to work afterward. 



" FOOD FOR SEALERS. I will advise you, as a very necessary thing, to see that your men, at 

 least those who are landed, eat plenty of seal meat, for it is necessary for their health. Theno is 

 no danger of any man getting the scurvy if he will use seal meat freely, and as soon as they have 

 used it a few days they will use no other meat, for it is first-class, and the pups that are three or 

 four months old are as good as any pig. Take and clean a young seal, cut off all the fat, stuff and 

 roast it as you would a pig, and you have a delicious dish. Ton may think this needless advice, 

 but I will give you my reasons for it. 



" I was working seal in Terra del Fuego for forty months, without coming away from there, 

 three winters and four summers, and by using plenty of seal meat, as I claim, I preserved the 

 health of my crew, for I did not have a sick man during the entire time. 



" The first three seasons no other vessel accompanied us ; the fourth season there were several 

 other vessels. They landed their men and every one of them lost men by scurvy, and even the 

 crews of the vessels were taken down by it, and this all in one season. One schooner came and 

 anchored in the same place with me. When I went on board the captain told me that he had lost 

 three out of six men that he had landed, and that he had one on board so bad that he could live 

 but a short time, as he was unable to move. I asked him if his men used seal meat. He said he 

 had told them to use it but they thought the meat was not good and would not use it. I told him 

 I had the same trouble with my men during the first part of the voyage, and had to make the men 

 eat it. The last three seasons they would not use any other meat. If one of your men should get 

 the scurvy give him raw seal meat soaked in vinegar. 



" October is the laying season in high southern latitudes. If you get there by that time you 

 will be able to get any quantity of eggs of different kinds. There are some kinds of penguin that 

 are almost always found on or near seal rocks. By clearing off the rookeries and collecting the eggs 

 as soon as laid these peugiuns can be kept laying up to February. All the different kinds of 

 young birds are good eating. 



"CARE OF THE SKINS. You will have men with yon that have been in the business before. 

 Still I will write you how to take care of skins. The way to skin a seal is to cut around the flippers; 

 then rip the belly open from tail to throat ; then cut around the head forward of the ears, leaving 

 the ears on the skin. Take the blubber off with the skin. Be sure and soak the blood well out, 

 for on this depends in great measure the curing of the skin. After being well soaked pile them 

 in small heaps to drain. Then flinch them by cutting the blubber smoothly off, leaving from one- 

 eighth to one-fourth inch of blubber on the skin. Be sure to caution the men to hold their knives 

 flat in flinching if they will cut down to and into the skin in steps the whole length. A skin so 

 flinched, although there may be no holes clean through it, will go ' damaged in dressing,' and of 

 course they will make a damaged skin of it. Every defect will be seen in London. 



"A flinching-board should be about 6 feet long and from 1 to 2 feet wide, with legs long 

 enough for a man to work wfthout bending too much. The legs can be made to unship, so as to 

 save room. Brace up the board the right slant, take the skin by the neck, swing ib over the board 

 with the flipper holes on the board, draw the knife across the blubber where it hangs straight on 

 the board, and cut it off smoothly to the tail, leaving the tail on the skin. Then turn the skin around 

 and flinch the neck. In salting care should be taken to rub the salt well into the edges and the 

 neck of the skin, for in kenching or booking them up the edges are very apt to roll up and if not 

 well rubbed with salt will get pink and damaged. 

 SEC. v, VOL. ii 28 



