NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1884. 85 
which they are out of condition and valueless. This doubtless 
would have a very beneficial effect, but I venture to think that 
more is required. 
I explained in a previous page the way in which the ships 
bore through the ice, each one more anxious than the other to 
obtain a good position near the breeding pack in readiness for 
the morning of April 3rd, when it becomes legal to kill the seals; 
some of these ships are in the neighbourhood of the pack for 
days before the opening of the fishery, and their presence there 
must of necessity have a disturbing influence on the mother 
seals, which is prejudicial to them in many ways, such as 
causing them to deposit their young in unsuitable situations, or 
even in the water, where they would be drowned. It seems, 
therefore, desirable that some restriction should be placed upon 
the sailing of the vessels (as at St. John’s), in order to ensure 
their not reaching the ice too early. I am aware that the 
circumstances of the voyage to the Greenland sealing differ 
greatly from those of the St. John’s vessels, and that in the one 
case they are close upon the sealing ground, whilst in the other 
800 miles of stormy sea have to be passed over at an inclement 
season of the year, which may require five days or three weeks 
to accomplish, according to the state of the weather; also that 
winds which would suit the British vessels would be unsuitable 
to the Norwegians; then again, the difference between steam and 
sailing vessels would have to be allowed for, so that the diffi- 
culties in the way of this scheme seem to be altogether insuperable. 
Would it not be possible, however, to appoint a rendezvous nearer 
at hand from which the ships might depart simultaneously, as is 
the case from St. John’s? I can only suggest Jan Mayen. 
Capt. Gray’s suggestion that a date should be fixed, after 
which it should be illegal to shoot the Hooded Seals, is an 
excellent one, and should be enforced; and this would entail no 
hardship, as the old Hooded Seals are all but valueless by the 
end of June. With regard to the Newfoundland fishery, it seems 
desirable that the second trip should not be allowed; a vessel 
having once filled up and secured a paying cargo should not be 
allowed to return to the ice. I make these remarks with great 
diffidence, feeling sure that the practical good sense of the sealers 
themselves, which has already shown itself in the wholesome 
restrictions, so far as they go, which are at present in existence, 
