NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY. 67 



the western Harps towards the end of March, about twenty 

 miles north-west of Grindstone Islands, where, reaching them 

 with difficulty, she secured 26,586. The * Kite ' struck the Seals 

 in the same locality somewhat later, with every prospect of 

 securing a good cargo, but in answer to signals of distress from 

 the s.s. ' Gaspia,' a trader which was fast in the ice, left the 

 sealing to go to her assistance, eventually convoying her safely 

 into St. John's, but having captured only 699 Seals. The 

 ' Harlaw ' and the ' Nimrod ' hunted in company in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Cape St. George, the former capturing 157 old and 

 2476 young Hoods (equal in weight to about 9000 young Harps), 

 and the latter 37 11 of the same species. These Hooded Seals 

 are said to have been of an enormous size, but their capture was 

 attended with considerable danger and labour, as the vessels 

 could not get within three miles of the sheet on which they were, 

 and the intervening ice was much broken and rafted. 



Mr. Thorburn tells me that, owing to the severity of the frost 

 in the month of February, the ice in the Gulf was unusually 

 heavy, in consequence of which the eastern Harps were not seen 

 at all, and the schooners fishing there made a very bad season; 

 he estimates that the number of Seals which fell to these 

 schooners, and to the shore fishers in Bonavista Bay, did not 

 much exceed 20,000. 



The total number of Seals captured by the eighteen steamers, 

 of the aggregate capacity of 5500 tons, and manned by some 

 3500 seamen, was 268,787 (against 241,708 in the previous 

 season), of a net value of .£68,527, the price of produce being 

 very disappointing. The bulk of the vessels were fairly fished, 

 nine having more than 15,000 : the ' Neptune ' taking the lead 

 with 32,129 ; five others had above 10,000, and the remaining 

 four from three to four thousand each, with the exception of the 

 ' Kite,' which, as already explained, was otherwise occupied, and 

 killed only 699 Seals. The average of the whole was 14,932. 

 The fishing in the past season, although the ice had been heavy 

 and the weather rough, has been singularly free from disaster, 

 and had prices ruled better would have been highly successful. 



The Norwegian sealers, I have been informed, did very badly, 

 and they are gradually being sold out of the trade ; the Bottle- 

 nose fishery also produced about one-third less than in the 



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