SEALS AND SEAL FISHERIES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2644, 22 June 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

SEALS AND SEAL FISHERIES.

[Lady Blake, in the Nineteenth Century.] The seal fishery is a lottery. As many as five or six hundred thousand seals are found in somo of the patches, and when vessels get amongst the ice meadows they soou return loaded till the deok is barely above the water, no Plimsoll's line existing in Newfoundland. At other times not a single seal is taken. The largest tako ever made by any one ship occurred in the season of ISBB, when the Neptune, belonging to Messrs Job, of Dundee, brought in 42,224 pelts. Still the fishery on the whole wns not an abundant one. and the seal fishery is on tho decline. Steamers have driven sailing vessels from tho waters to a great extent, and mineral oils are driving seal oil out of tho market. At present tho principal profit is derived from tho skins, which, when salted, are exported to Ki:gland, where they are tanned and form a lar<,-c item in tho " kid leather" of commerce. Although tho take of seals by steamers exceeds that of sailing vessels, the expense is, of course, far greater, and unless tho catch bo a ver3 r heavy one tho losses exceed the profits.

Tho men are entitled to ;t third of the value of tho seals taken, which is divided equally amongst then; ; tho amount gained by each man belonging to the Neptune on the successful cruise of which wo have spoken was 61) dollars or £13 15s. For their berth on tho ship they pay £1 currency, receiving their rations in return. The captain receives 4 per cent, on the net proceeds, though some captains arrange to be paid od on every skin brought in. Tho lion's share, of course, falls to tho merchant who owns the vessel, and who has run the chief monetary risk in the gamble.

The seal is the main support of the Esquimaux, to whom every atom of the creature is of value. The blood, which they drink smoking hot, is their champagne ; its flesh cither raw or cooked is meat of which they uever tiro ; even the entrails are oaten by them, and the membrane lining tho stomach serves instead of glass for the solitary little window in their '■ igloos " or snow huts. The skins form an imperial part of their clothing, and are the chief material for boots, tents and kayacks ; for the latter, indeed, no skins but those of the seal are used, as no others would stand equally well constant immersion in salt water, the walrus hide being too heavy for such light craft, though used for the "oomiak'' or women's boats.

The seal hunting by the Esquimaux; is very different from wholesale slaughter of the animals. When a seal-hole (i.e. the opening in the ice where the creatures rise to breathe) is found, which in winter iu generally dono by a clog specially trained for the purpose, the hunter feels with his spear through the superincumbent snow till he finds the opening l ; (hen he takes up his station and patiently waits, sometimes for two days and night?, till he is rewarded hy hearing a sua! blow. At the second or third puff the hunter thrusts his spear through the hole, usually penetrating the skull of the unseen animal, which instantly dives, running out several fathoms of the line attached to the spear. Gradually the man drags the struggling seal upwards, and, enlarging the breathing hole, hauls it out on to the snow. When the seals are basking on the ice in the sun-shine, the Esquimaux approach within striking distance, lying ilat on the ico and advancing by a sort of wriirgling motion, which no doubt the seal mistakes for the movement of one of his own kind. At the same time the hunter chants his "seal song,' 1 which is described as a "loud peculiar nose, a mixture of Innuit, singing and bellowing, which seems to work a charm upon the seal." When the seal is killed, a seal feast takes place, to which all the neig-tiboiiis are

bidden. The first ceremony is to consecrate the animal by sprinking water on its head. Frequently the feast is simply a gorge on the raw flesh ; when the meat is cooked it is boiled in salt water and blood, the broth being eagerly drunk by the guests when the flesh is taken from the pot. The chief or igloo wife then hands portions of the meat to those present, having first politely sucked each morsel to prevent the fluid dropping from it. and at the same time the hostess considerately licks off any hairs or soforth that may have adhered to the meat,

Man is not the only enemy of the seal. They form a large portion of the prey of the polar bear, though unless very hungry he is dainty enough to eat only its blubber. The bears often surprise the seals when asleep on the ice, but they also capture them in the water, sinking their bodies so as only to leave their white heads visible. The seal, who peers anxiously around, mistakes this for a lump of floating ice, and allows its enemy to come dangerously near ; then, while the timid seal is scanning the upper world for possible dangers, the crafty bear dives under it and seizes it from below. The seals found in the Artie regions make au excavation in the snow for their young, and leave a hole through the ice by which they obtain access to the water from this lair. The bear is said to jump on the dome of the seal's snow house so as to break it in ; it then seizes the baby seal in one of its paws, and holding it by the hind flippers allows tho young seal to flounder in the water, When tho mother arrives to visit her young one, the bear keeps drawing- the little creature backwards till the old seal is brought within reach, when he pounces upon her with his other piw. So many facts are narrated of the sagacity shown by the polar bear that it is not surprising that the old Norseman considered that " the bear had ten men's strength and eleven men's wit." On the west coast of Ireland the peasants believe that the souls of old maids go into the bodies of seals. It would be well if a similar superstition extended to Newfoundland, as at present the imprcssiou there seems general that " seals are like fish, and have no feeling." Even a sealer would probably have some hesitation about "scalping," (as they term skinning) alive a spinster aunt or maiden sister.

When the sealing vessels have returned from their cruises, and their unsavoury cargoes have been landed on tho south side of the harbour, so as to be out of reach of the olfactory nerves of the townspeople, the. scalers again throng the street of tho metropolis. Groups of lilthy and foul-smelling men, their clothes clotted with blubber and gore, loiter about the grogshops, or stand staring and spitting ad libitum. But their dirt and other drawbacks only seem to increase the heroic attributes of the "soilors " in tho eyes of the population. The town cadgers gaze on them with undisguised admiration, and they may be seen walking with respectable-looking women, evidently proud of the escort of their greasy cavaliers. Many of the poorer members of the community may be seen carrying bunches of black and bloody flippers wherewith to prepare a luxurious family repast, and in the gurgling brooklets these ensanguined morsels arc spread out to be cleansed before being cooked. There is proverbially no accounting for tastes ; tho poorer Newfoundlanders esteem seals' flippers a delicacy. Tho meat, though dark, is certainly tender, but to my uninitiated palato iu taste it resembled the very fishiest of wild duck steeped iu train oil. The diversity of verdicts pronounced by travellers on seals' flesh probably arises not alone from difference in tastes, but also from difference in tho time when the meat was eaten. When tho seal is first killed, the oily flavour, so unpleasant to most people, is said to bo absent. In some of the outports seal oil is used to trim the lamps, and a picturesque substitute for lamp or caudle is sometimes resorted to iu a large scallop shell holding a piece of blubber with a wick fastened in it.

The seal is ea-ily tamed, and is of a very afiectionate disposition, attaching himself to his master with doglike fidelity. We kept one for several months, and, though timid and shy at first, he was easily reassured by kindness, and soou became quite tame. A gentleman connected with St. John's most kindly gave mo the seal, which unfortunately, contrary to his instructions, had been wounded in the capture by a thrust on tho head from a gaff. However, it was not long before Neptune's wound was healed, and ho became a most interesting pet. It was sometime before we could induce him to eat; tempting morsels of fish were dangled before him or thrown into tho tank, but he would have none of them. At last we fortunately thought of placing some live fish in tho water, which proved too much for his philosophy and were speedily caught and devoured. After that wo had no furthor difficulty in inducing him to eat fish, dead or alive, and when fish were scarce ho did not disdain boiled lobster. He answered to his name, and would sprawl and wriggle up two or three steps and into the houso to obtain a proffered herring or piece of cod, and uttered shrill cries of pleasure on catching sight of his master.

Nowadays trading interests aro supposed to override all other considerations, and to the Molook of Comnicrco tho health, morality and happiuess of millions of human beings are too often ruthlessly sacrificed; therefore efforts to mitigate tho cruelties inflicted year after on numbers of helpless and harmless animals will to many people appear quixotic and useless. Morris, in his most interesting "Lectures on Art," pithily points out tho " law of nature which forbids men to see evils which they aro not ready to redross." May it not bo that it is a " law of nature '' which, like a cataract over men's eyes, rendering them for a time dim, can ultimately be removed, and is it too much to hopo that those who possess superior enlightenment and education will sooner or later awake to the crying sin of cruelty which, if tho will were present, would easily be redressed? Surely, setting aside the sufferings of what wo aro pleased to call "lower animals." tho wholesale brutalisation of largo numbers of ordinary unthinking human beings is no light matter, and soma blame has justly attached to a community where tho labouring classes were allowed to retrograde from the humanising benefits supposed to bo reaped from civilisation. But better days arc dawning in Newfoundland. A society for prevention of cruelty to animals has been established in tho colony; tho loading men there are awakening to the evils of which ivii have spoken, and it is to be hoped that tluir efforts to put down cruelties and unnecessary barbarities may be crowned with success.