TIIK NOIJJ'H ATLANTIC SEAL FISHERY. 481 



iu bundles of pelts, three, six, or even seven at a time, and sometimes from a distance of two miles. 

 Six pelts, however, is reckoned a very heavy load to drag over the rough and broken ice, leaping 

 from pan to pan, and they generally try to keep two or three together to assist each other at bad 

 places, or to pull those out who fall into the water. The ice to-day was in places very slippery, 

 and iu others broken and treacherous, and as I had not got my boots properly fitted with " sparable" 

 and "chisels" I staid on board and helped the captain and cook iu managing the vessel and whip- 

 ping in the pelts as they were brought alongside. By 12 o'clock, however, my arms were aching 

 with the work, and on the lee side of the vessel we stood more than knee-deep in warm seal-skins, 

 all blood and fat. Some of the men brought in as many as-stxty each iu the course of the day, 

 and by night the decks were covered in many places the full height of the rail. As the men came 

 on board they occasionally snatched a hasty moment to drink a bowl of tea, or eat a piece of 

 biscuit and butter; and as the sweat -was dripping from their faces, and their hands and bodies 

 were reeking with blood and fat, and they often spread the butter with their thumbs, and wiped 

 their faces with the backs of their hands, they took both the liquids and the solids mingled with 

 the blood. The deck, of course, when the deck could be seen, was almost as slippery with it as if 

 it had been ice. Still there was a bustle and excitement in the scene that did not permit the fancy- 

 to dwell on the disagreeables, and after a hearty refreshment the men would snatch up their gaft's 

 aud hauling ropes, and hurry off in search of new victims; besides, every pelt was worth a dollar- 

 During this time hundreds of old seals were popping up their heads in the small lakes of water 

 and holes among the. ice, anxiously looking for their young. Occasionally one would hurry across 

 a pan in search of the snow-white darling she had left, and which she could not recognize in the 

 bloody and broken carcass, stripped of its warm covering, that alone remained of it. I fired several 

 times at these old ones in the afternoon with my rifle from the deck, but without success, as unless 

 the ball hits them on the head it is a great chance whether it touch any vital part, the body being 

 so thickly clothed with fat. In the evening, however, Captain Furneaux went out on the ice and 

 killed two with his sealing gun, loaded with seal shot. The wind had now sunk to a light air, and 

 the sun set most gloriously, glancing from the golden west across the bright expanse of snow, now 

 stained with many a bloody spot, and the ensanguined trail which marked the footsteps of the 

 intruders on the peacefulness of the scene. Several vessels came up near us from the south iu the 

 afternoon ; but, notwithstanding all the slaughter, the air as night closed in resounded with the 

 cries of the young seals on every side of us. As the sunlight faded iu the west, the quiet moon 

 looked down from the zenith, and a brilliant arch of aurora crossed the heavens nearly from east 

 to west, iu a long waving line of glancing light, slowly moving backward and forward from north 

 to south across the face of the moon. 



"'Early in the morning [of the next day, March 14] the crew were out on the ice, and brought 

 in 350 seal. The number hauled in yesterday was 1,380, making the total number now on board 

 upwards of 2,000. After suffering the pelts to lie open on deck for a few hours, in order to get 

 cool, they are stowed away in the hold, being laid one over the other iu pairs, each pair having the 

 hair outwards. The hold is divided by stout partitions iuto several compartments, or pounds, to 

 prevent too much motion among the seal-skins and keep each in its place. The ballast is heaved 

 entirely out as the pelts are stowed away, aud the cargo is trusted to balance the vessel. In con- 

 sequence of neglecting to divide the hold into pounds in one of his earlier voyages, Captain Fur- 

 neaux told us he once lost his vessel. He was detained on his return, with 5,000 seals on board, 

 by strong contrary gales, which kept him at sea till by the continued motion and friction his seals 

 began to run to oil. The skins then dashed about from one side of the hold to the other with 

 every roll of the vessel, and he was obliged to run before the wind, which was then blowing from 

 SEC. v, VOL. ii 31 



