THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1886. 185 



there were more Germans, Danes, and Dutch, than there are 

 Norwegians at present. The author is also incorrect in stating 

 that the Scotch steamers are chiefly manned by Shetlanders. It 

 is usual for the whalers to complete their crews at Lerwick, and 

 last season the ' Eclipse ' added to her crew of forty men fifteen 

 Shetlanders, bringing the number up to fifty-five, and this, I 

 believe, is about the usual proportion. Again, although it is 

 stated that a close time has been established in the " Jan Mayen 

 fishery," the writer goes on to say that "the vessels make the ice 

 from the 15th to the 20th March, and commence the chase in 

 the destructive way ah'eady described." The way " already 

 described" happily refers to what has since 1877 become a thing 

 of the past; in that year the close time came into operation, 

 and now, within an area included between the parallels of 67° and 

 75° N. latitude, and between the meridians of 5° East and 

 17° West longitude from the meridian of Greenwich, not a Seal 

 is killed till April 3rd. That date is still believed by some to 

 be too early, but this restriction has completely revolutionised 

 the mode of sealing; the mother Seals are no longer killed 

 without mercy when they come to suckle their young, and the 

 latter left '* to die in thousands of starvation." As a matter of 

 fact, it is the young " white-coats " which are now so much 

 valued. The German vessels made a business of sealing many 

 years before the English took any decided part in it, the latter 

 only picking up a few Seals occasionally ; but about the com- 

 mencement of the present century Seals begin to figure largely 

 in the returns of the British ships. It was not, however, till 

 the year 1840 that the port of Dundee first sent out sljips to 

 the Greenland sealing, but this date by no means coincides 

 with the commencement of the Jan Mayen Seal fishery as stated 

 by the writer in the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica.' 



The Davis Straits whaling voyage was a very disastrous 

 one. On April 5th, during a most terrific gale, the ' Triune ' 

 was forced upon a reef in lat. G6 N., where she remained frozen 

 up till the 18th, when she was released, but in steaming through 

 the ice-floe she received a very severe nip, which ultimately 

 resulted in the crew being compelled to abandon her oft' Scott's 

 Island in 71 N. lat. on the 16th A-.igust. At the same time and 

 place as the * Triune,' the 'Jan Mayen' was also caught in the 

 squeeze, and sank shortly afterwards. The ' Star' was likewise 



