NEWFOUNDLAND SEALERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16120, 8 July 1914, Page 12

NEWFOUNDLAND SEALERS

AN ADVENTUROUS LIFE. As we, in the British Isles, experience the call of the sea, the hardy islanders c£ I Newfoundland become fascinated each spring by the call of the ice. Thousands of them—cod-fishers, railway workers, millers, and others engaged in many callings—throw no their work and travel sometimes hundreds of miles to St. John's (the starting-point of the sealing fl#et) with the one desire to get signed on as a sealer to share in this strange harvest of the sea. The voyage lasts about a month, or six weeks, and the work throughout, until a full cargo is obtained, is of a most arduous nature. The dangers to be faced are manifold; while beyond this it is almost a gamble whether "the trip will prove a success or failure; this depending on how soon or in what numbers the young seals (which provide the greater part of the catch) may be found. As an inducement to ensure the enterprise being remunerative, the owners of the sealing vessels give the captain, officers, and ordinary crew a bonus (based on a percentage ot" the value of the cargo obtained) in addition to their wages. The sealers, however, with the exception of tho rations supplied, receive a percentage value of the cargo only for their work; hence it behoves eacli and every man aboard to do his best; and the rivalry among the fleet to secure the best cargo becomes intense. Both steel and wooden vessels being engaged in "the work, the latter are given two or three days' start from port to compensate them for their slower progress through the ice The killing of seals commences on a fixed date for all —namely, March 16. The seals' instinct prompts them to rear their young on those floes which are surrounded by very heavy and rugged ice; and when such floes aro met by the sealers the excitement aboard is unbounded, as , the hunters know that their quarry is not far distant. Rnmming operations are then conducted until a fissure is made in the ice, the work being technically known as "chiselling the fence"; but, should the ramming prove ineffective, blasting becomes imperative. The sealers leap on to the ice, bore holes ahead and on either side of their vessel, and insert canisters *.f gunpowder attached to long poles. A fuse is lighted, and the men scatter until the charges have exploded, when they return, and with long poles push the broken ice astern, and the vessel gets under way. On arrival it the ice-fields each man is provided with an outfit, consisting of a gaff-hook, a coil of rope, a sharp knife and belt, and spikes for putting in the soles of his boots. When fairly among the seals, the men are divided into watches of about 12 men, with a "master" in charge of each watch; a day's rations is handed to each. "All hands out!" is the order from the cantain on the bridge, and with the ship still ploughing through the ice every available man scrambles overboard. Work row begins in earnest; the young seals, unable to offer resistance, are easily killed by a sharp blow on the head From the gaff; th" parent seals disappearing rapidly thrrvgh a bob-hole in the ice. or in many irstances sharing; the fate of their offspr ; n;i, which they refuse to leave. When all tho seals in tho immediate vicinity havo beer, killed, by the dexterous use of a sharp knife the pelts are removed whole, and tho carcases, being of no-commeTcia.l value, are left on the ice. The peli is tho term applied to the skin with the blubber attached, the blubber being usually 4in or sin in thickness on the young seals. Each party of sealers, by means of their ropes, haul the skins to spots chosen . by the master of the watch, where thy are piled up, and a distinctive flag (carried by each individual boat) is erected. This is termed making a "nan" of seals. The vessel threads its way through the ice towards each "pan," which is hauled aboard by steam-winches. In the meantime the sealers, having gone further afield, carry on the killing until nightfall. Since the 'young seals take to the wator when only'lo days old, no time can be lost, and' all is hustle aboard, as, after entering the water, they lose blubber rapidly and consequently depreciate in value. The hardships endured by the sealer? are almost inconceivable, and any day they may meet a terrible death from one of the following and many other causes. 1. With the wooden vessels, there is always the risk of becoming wedged between masses of heavy ice, the pressure of which crushes the ship, instances being on record where, in this extremity, to save ■ their lives, the crew have had to abandon their vessel hurriedly and take to the ice, dragging their small boats with wljat scanty provisions they could save, hoping to make la>nd or to be picked up by another sealing vessel, losing, perhaps, a full cargo, the result of a month's streeuous labour. 2.- A false step taken from one floe to another, especially when the ice js in a broken state, and a main might disappear never to be seen again, as the whole mass of ice is constantly on the move. 3. In leaving or regaining the vessel the risk taken is considerable, as no stop is made for Fiich purpose. 4. But of all risks, the sudden climatic changes which occur in these regions prove the most prolific ca&se of fatal accidents. Severe snowstorms accompanied by a biting wind may suddenly overtake a "party of'men working along way from their ship, break up the ice. and isolate them on a small floe, thus cutting off the only chance of escape, and few could hope to survive a night under such rigorous conditions. By wrapping up in the skins of freshly-killed seals and huddling closely together for warmth, some have been known to have survived such a terrible ordeal and to have been picked up the next day still alive, greatly to the astonishment of their rescuers. As an instance of the great fascination which the sealing trips have for the natives of Newfoundland, it was the proud boast of one of them—an independent man, the owner of a fleet of fishing schooners—that he held tho record of goinz to the ice-fields for 49 springs without a break, and still hoped to go many more.' The vastness of the sealing industry may be imagined when it is stated that a

single vessel may return with 40,000 sealskins as it 3 cargo; while it is computed that the total number of seals killed each spring amounts to nearly 500,000. —W. liooi,.