The Whale and Seal Fisheries. 113 



up to about i860, when the application of steam-power to the 

 ships gave it a fresh start, as the vessels were thus enabled to 

 penetrate to higher latitudes and to follow the " fish," as they 

 are called, into previously almost inaccessible haunts. Vessels 

 now go out on combined sealing and whaling voyages. Pro- 

 ceeding first to St. John's, Newfoundland, they ship from two 

 to three hundred extra hands for the sealing voyage. The 

 young seals are born on the ice from about the 15th to the 25th 

 of February, and the aim of the sealers is to find these young 

 seals when they are three to four weeks old, as the oil they 

 then yield is superior to that at any other period of their 

 growth. At this stage of their growth they are called " white- 

 coats," and in the vernacular of the island their pursuit is 

 called " swile huntin','' the hunters being known as "soilers," 

 a corruption of sealers. Mr. Patterson gave a graphic descrip- 

 tion of the manners, food, and clothing of these men, of their 

 perilous occupation and the chances of success or failure. One 

 vessel, if she be fortunate, may return to port in two or three 

 weeks with thirty to forty thousand young seals on board ; 

 while another vessel, equally well found, if unlucky, may be 

 twice the time out and return to port " clean," as it is called, 

 that is empty, having been entirely unsuccessful. Many 

 instances of this were given, and the vessels and their captains 

 mentioned by name, special mention being made of Captain 

 Guy, of the s.s. " Arctic," a native of Larne. After returning 

 from the sealing voyage the vessels refit and proceed to their 

 summer whale-fishing, which is carried on in the usual manner. 

 On this whaling voyage in 1884 several of the Dundee fleet 

 took part, for some time, in the search for the missing United 

 States expedition under the command of Lieutenant Greely. 

 Frequent and most appreciative mention is made of these bold 

 and dashing whaling captains in Commander Schley's published 

 account of the expedition which discovered and rescued Greely 

 and the small remnant of his crew, only seven remaining alive 

 out of the party of twenty-four. The lecturer then gave statis- 

 tical particulars of the vessels engaged in the trade, and the 

 results of their operations were given for the last six years, 



