1868.] MR. R. BROWN ON THE SEALS OF GREENLAND. 423 



Every one knows when it commences its migration from the south to 

 the north, hut nohody knows where the Seal goes to when it dis- 

 appears oif the coast. Between the time they leave the coast in the 

 spring and return in the summer they beget their young ; and this 

 seems to be accomplished on the pack-ice a great distance from land*, 

 viz. in the Spitzbergen sea. It is at this period that the Seal-sliips 

 come after them, as referred to already. Of course a few stragglers 

 occasionally do not leave the coast, and produce their young close 

 to the land; but such exceptions do not at all aifect the rule laid down. 

 It is a very familiar fact that round the Spitzbergen seas in April 

 the sealers get the best catch. At this season they accumulate in 

 immense numbers on the pack and can be killed en masse ; but Dr. 

 Rink cannot believe that in this time the Seals could migrate from 

 the west coast of Greenland to Spitzbergen, the distance being too 

 great. In support of this argument, it is pointed out that in the 

 winter the Seal goes in the opposite direction to that of Spitzbergen, 

 and cannot be seen in the northern parts of Davis's Strait or Baffin's 

 Bay ; it is possible therefore, he thinks, that the Seals of Baffin's Bay 

 go in the spring down the west side of Davis's Strait to Newfoundland 

 and Labrador, and supply the bulk of those killed there at that 

 season, that in the winter they cross Davis's Strait and beget their 

 young in that region, and after this cross again to the southern portion 

 of Greenland. One would think that if the Seals came from Spitz- 

 bergen there would at this season be great numbers met on the passage 

 round Cape Farewell. At other seasons of the year it is certainly 

 the abundance or otherwise of their food which determines which 

 way the Seal will take. In June the Seals go to feed on fish up the 

 fjords ; but what way they go in July, and where they may be in 

 August, is still a matter of doubt. It is often argued in Greenland 

 that in the "old times" Seals were more numerous than now, and 

 that the great slaughter by the European sealers in Spitzbergen and 

 Newfoundland has decreased their numbers on the shores of Green- 

 land. The worthy Inspector of south Greenland therefore rejoices 

 that the recent failures of the Seal-hunting in the former localities 

 will have a tendency to again increase their numbers in Davis's Strait 

 and Baffin's Bay, and thereby bring an increase of prosperity to his 

 hyperborean subjects. 



Economic value and hunting. — To the Greenlander this Seal is of 

 vast importance for its oil, flesh, and hide. One full-grown animal 

 will weigh on an average about 230 lbs., of which the skin and 

 blubber weigh 100 lbs., and the meat 93 lbs., the remainder being 

 the head, blood, and entrails. The edible parts may therefore be 

 said to reach the amount of 100 lbs. ; but this weight also includes 

 the bones. The blubber of one at the latter part of the year would 

 probably fill about one-third of a cask, but would not yield over a 

 fourth part of that quantity when the animals return in the spring 

 after procreating. The yearly catch in the Danish settlements is 

 estimated at Se.OOOf- 



* Rink, lib. eit., et 0. Fabricius in Nat. Selsk. Skrift. I. c. 

 t Fide Rink, I. c. 



