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NEWFOUNDLAND SEALING, 1906. 

 By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 



Notwithstanding the unfavourable result of the sealing voyage 

 of 1905, this precarious industry has been pursued with increased 

 vigour in the past season, three additional steamers having been 

 added to the fleet, bringing the number up to twenty-five. One 

 of these is the 'Adventure,' of 829 tons, the largest and most 

 powerful vessel ever engaged in this business ; the others are the 

 ' Havana,' of 190 tons, and the ' Terra Nova,' of 450 tons. Only 

 six of these sailed from St. Johns, four from Channel (Port-aux- 

 Basques) for the Gulf sealing, the rest from the more northerly 

 ports of Pool's Island and Wesleyville. The eastern sealing has 

 been very successful, and the catch much more evenly distributed 

 than last year, no fewer than eleven vessels having more than 

 15,000, five others having between 10,000 and 15,000, and of the 

 remaining nine 6786 was the lowest. The average of the twenty- 

 five vessels was 13,673, and the total number of Seals captured 

 341,836, valued at £121,509. To these must be added some 

 45,000 taken by the Magdalene Islands. At the eastern sealing, 

 the ' Adventure ' headed the list with 30,193 pelts, the 'Neptune' 

 coming in second with 24,020. The Gulf steamers did badly, 

 owing to stress of weather and the unfavourable condition of 

 the ice. 



The main patch of the breeding Seals was struck some ninety 

 or hundred miles N.N.E. of the Funks, twenty-one of the vessels 

 speedily being amongst them, and 280,000 are said to have 

 been slaughtered between the 16th and 20th of March — 24,000 

 of these in one day. The close proximity of the vessels, it is 

 alleged, led to several instances of the misappropriation of each 

 other's " pans," and caused much ill-feeling. The ' Adventure ' 

 was the first to get into the patch (on the 11th), closely followed 

 by the ' Neptune,' where for a time they had it all to themselves 

 (the others having gone too far north), hence their superior 



