42 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



33.812 Seals. Capt. Jackman stated that on his second trip he 

 discovered a patch of ice, on which a large body of Harp Seals had 

 whelped, and had apparently not been disturbed ; this was about 

 sixty miles N.E. of the southern patch, which had proved so pro- 

 ductive earlier in the season. In the Gulf of St. Lawrence the 

 success early in the season was only partial, owing to the prevalence 

 of westerly winds keeping the ice packed on the Newfoundland 

 coast; but here the extension of time stood them in good stead. 

 Capt. W. Bartlett, of the ' Panther,' had a somewhat novel expe- 

 rience in this respect ; he got a few old and young Hoods in the 

 spring, but husbanded his coals, determining to stay out as long as 

 possible, and was rewarded by getting several thousand old Harp 

 Seals, about the end of April or beginning of May, between Prince 

 Edward's Island and Picton, where he found them quite plentiful; 

 and, in his experience (it being good sealing ground), they remain 

 about there every year till the ice melts. This year there was 

 not a great deal of ice, but as a rule the steamers find it too 

 heavy to get so far into the Gulf. Had Capt. Bartlett been 

 compelled to discontinue work on April 20th, he would not have 

 got any old Seals to speak of. Mr. Thorburn tells me that he 

 never remembers any steamer before this year getting any quantity 

 of old Seals (i.e. old and Bedlamer Harp Seals) in the Gulf. 

 Referring to the old Hoods, he says they leave the Gulf and 

 East coast between April 15th and 20th, going down to Cape 

 Harrison on the Labrador coast ; and out of ten or fifteen thou- 

 sand old Seals taken at the end of April or beginning of May, 

 there will not be ten Hoods ; they seem to disappear all at once. 



The twenty steamers which left the Newfoundland ports 

 captured 270,058 Seals ; these were fairly evenly distributed, the 

 average of the whole twenty vessels being 13,500. Six steamers 

 captured over 15,000 each, the 'Terra Nova,' the only Dundee 

 vessel present, taking the lead with 33,886, followed by the 

 'Aurora' 33,812, 'Neptune' 32,308, 'Wolf 30,292, ' Ranger ' 

 19,022, and ' Algerine ' 18,594 ; five others had more than 10,000 

 each, and the remaining nine varied from 516 to 7462. In 

 addition to the 270,000 here referred to, some 30,000 others were 

 captured, making a probable total of 300,000. 



The net value of the produce brought in by the steamers, at 

 the time of landing, was estimated at about £77,824 ; but about a 

 month later the value of skins suddenly advanced very considerably, 



