368 LABRADOR 
has a doorway which, once the seals have entered the room, 
is raised by winding up the capstan on the land. As the 
seals trim the shores, and even follow round the bays on 
their long journey, many are caught in this way. I have 
known one settler’s family to take nine hundred seals, while 
three hundred to four hundred forms a catch by no means 
unusual. Not nearly so many seals, however, are taken 
nowadays, spring or autumn, and one can see many aban- 
doned capstans standing on rocky points. At one little 
Labrador settlement a trapper of the name of Jones be- 
came so rich through regular large catches of seals that he 
actually had a carriage and horses sent from Quebec, and 
a road made to drive them on; while he had a private 
musician hired from Canada for the whole winter to per- 
form at his continuous feastings. I was called on awhile 
ago to help to supply clothing to cover the nakedness of this 
man’s grandchildren. 
Yet another mode of welcome the poor harp gets from 
southerners, when it leaves its northern home to visit us. 
That is given with buck-shot and musket, ball and rifle. 
The process is called swatching, and is carried on by two 
men in a light rodney, or punt, which is sometimes provided 
with runners. The seals are bound to rise in the “ponds,”’ 
or fissures, between the great pans of the Arctic floe, to take 
breath. The plan is to “get by a likely lead of water,” 
build a “gaze,” or shelter, out of ice blocks, and “bide your 
time.” You must be absolutely alert to get any seals. I 
have myself chosen a small lead and watched, lying down 
with rifle ready loaded, cocked, and pointed, and yet many 
times a great harp has noiselessly put up his head and 
shoulders and gone down, leaving only a ripple on the sur- 
