GREENLAND HAIR SEAL. 



219 



machines, etc. The Whitecoat skins are of uncertain 

 value, the large well-furred skins from Greenland fetch- 

 ing from 5s. to 8s., and those from Newfoundland, 

 which are of inferior qualit}^ rather less. But in 

 1890, when the catch was small, 12s. 3d. to 18s. was 

 paid for a skin. The lower qualities of the Whitecoats, 

 like the Saddlers, and large spots, are used for tanning. 

 The female skins are much preferred to the male, as 

 the latter are so much bitten at the fore flippers by the 

 males fighting. The majority of the skins are sent to 

 London for sale, but some are also sold in Liverpool, 

 Dundee, and Hamburg. 



The Whitecoat skins are blubbered, washed, and dried, 

 like in the first stages of the Fur Seal. The thick- 

 ness of the skin is sometimes reduced bj^ passing the 

 skins over an emery wheel, worked by machinery. 

 They are then dyed black or brown, the former being 

 used for military purposes (Hussar or Fusilier busbies), 

 and also a few for fur, such as edgings for robes, etc. 

 The brown skins are used for fur purposes, and the 

 inferior qualities find a ready market in France. 



The oil of this and other species taken on the ice is 

 very valuable, and they appear to be mixed together. 

 The skins are removed with the blubber attached, and 

 on arrival at St. John's, the blubber is removed from the 

 skins, which are then salted. The blubber is melted in 

 vats, and the oil is extracted, and sampled in long, thin 

 phials, the buyers judging of its quality by tasting a little 

 on the back of the hand, or by smelling it. Seal oil varies 

 in colour from white to dark brown, or almost black, the 

 pale oil fetching ^25 to £28 a tun, and the yellow rather 

 less. It is generally used mixed for illuminating, as light- 

 house lights, etc., and also for dressing jute in Dundee. 

 There is a duty on Seal oil in the United States. 



