OUR FIRST CALLING-PLACE. 89 



being noticeable in their rig, while it was so patched 

 with every conceivable kind of material that it was 

 impossible to say which was the original or " standing 

 part." They brought with them potatoes, onions, a few 

 stunted cabbages, some fowls, and a couple of good-sized 

 pigs, at the sight of which good things our eyes glistened 

 and our mouths watered. Alas ! none of the cargo of 

 that boat ever reached our hungry stomachs. We were 

 not surprised, having anticipated that every bit of pro- 

 vision would be monopolizedby our masters; but of course 

 we had no means of altering such a state of things. 



The visitors had the same tale to tell that seems 

 universal — bad trade, hard times, nothing doing. How 

 very familiar it seemed, to be sure. Nevertheless, it 

 could not be denied that their sole means of communi- 

 cation with the outer world, as well as market for their 

 goods, the calling whale-ships, were getting fewer and 

 fewer every year ; so that their outlook was not, it must 

 be confessed, particularly bright. But their wants are 

 few, beyond such as they can themselves supply. 

 Groceries and clothes, the latter especially, as the winters 

 are very severe, are almost the only needs they require 

 to be supplied with from without. They spoke of the 

 "Cape" as if it were only across the way, the distance 

 separating them from that wonderful place being over 

 thirteen hundred miles in reality. Very occasionally a 

 schooner from Capetown does visit them ; but, as the 

 seals are almost exterminated, there is less and less 

 inducement to make the voyage. 



Like almost all the southern islets, this group has 

 been in its time the scene of a wonderfully productive 

 seal-fishery. It used to be customary for whaling and 

 sealing vessels to land a portion of their crews, and leave 



