106 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



till the 14th ; and, although found thus early, they were well 

 matured. The patch lay E. and W. along the edges of the ice- 

 sheets, not in the middle of the pans, as is usually the case; and 

 the * Algerine ' reports that when she came up to the main body 

 of the young Harps the noise was so great that orders given on 

 board the ship were heard with difficulty ; on the 14th her own 

 crew killed 12,000. The * Walrus' was equally fortunate in 

 finding the Seals, but in the gale which followed she lost thirty- 

 seven pans, containing some 5000 Seals. The ' Newfoundland ' is 

 also said to have lost over 3000 in the same way ; and who can 

 tell how many more were thus unprofitably sacrificed ? The 

 1 Terra Nova' was the only vessel which secured any appreciable 

 number of Hooded Seals later in the season. 



Of the four vessels which went to the Gulf fishery, the 

 1 Panther ' ran down the Newfoundland shore in loose ice with 

 the hope of reaching the eastern Harps which are supposed to 

 whelp near Cape Whittle, on the Canadian shore ; but, finding 

 the winds unfavourable and the ice getting tighter, ran back 

 again, and was fortunate in finding the Hoods seventy miles 

 E.N.E. of the Bird Kocks, and secured nearly 6000 old and 

 young of these large Seals. The * Nimrod ' and 'Hope' found 

 the young Harp Seals on the 22nd of March off Byron Island, 

 but the * Kite ' and the ' Harlaw,' which went in search of the 

 western Harps, did very badly. 



With regard to the Gulf fishery, Mr. Thorburn was good 

 enough to give me the following particulars : — " Westerly winds 

 force the ice on the Newfoundland shore, and those from the 

 east on that of Canada ; so that the safest plan is, as a rule, to 

 keep in the centre of the Gulf, where there is almost always 

 a movement in the ice when the tide turns. Capt. Joy, who has 

 been much in the Gulf, informs me that he thinks there are two 

 currents, one going N.E., the other S.W., which meet off Cape 

 Whittle, keeping that part of the Gulf more or less open. I do 

 not think the masters of the Gulf boats make up their minds as 

 to what Seals they are going after until they enter the Gulf and 

 ascertain the state of the ice, and how the winds are. Owing to 

 the prevalence of westerly winds, I do not think the eastern 

 Harps were ever seen last year, and these same winds blew the 

 western Harps, which are seldom got at, towards the Newfound- 



