Sealing In Newfoundland

SealinL oper&tions also are vfgotously cooductêd liy the inhahitaats of &t: Jobn's. In former daystheseal tish was earried on in saiUng vessels, and was attended iilli considerable danger; but now tliiit stcanisiiijis are used the risk is iiincli diniinished. The paying nature of the business may be gathèred from the Eaci thai Btéamers of Qve or six hundred fcons borden:, Imilt and fitted forthe parpóse, and quítenseles for any othei trade; make n large proflt in average year, although théseuling sèason lasts (inly a month Oí slx weeks. Early in the spring, about the lieginning of Maicli, the ice Erom tliejiortli strikes in tóward the eastera coast oL Newfoundland, bringing witli it liundret's and hundreds of thousands of seals, young and old. Tlien St. .Io!in's wakes up, and the. wholeisland is in a btffetle. Though it entaüs constant exposure to gredl COld, and extlemely hard WOrk, the young men struggle eaiicrly to secure a bertt Ecw the sealing aeason, i'or they earr vcry hi-h vrages, and iliebusiess is saltee) wiih thai ele ni t uneertainty and danger which adda such a relish to Ufe. At lerigth eVërythlng is ready, and a ileet oL sleamers i'niin SI. .lolm's, and cá sailing eraf ts of -all kinds and sises froni large ooaating schoonera down to open boats, issuing from every lay, start out to look ioi: Lbu ice. The ships, crowded wwa aa niany menas tliey can hold, makè two trips oí aboüt a fortnigh't's (luratioü esceh ; ilic Brsi bèiftg devoted to the capture of ttie young sealft, at that fciine only a lew weeks old, andthe second lo destwetion ol' ilic l'nll-firown animáis. laiter are generally shot, wbilethe iormer u-e kaoeked on the head with clubs. As soon as the ice is reaclied, tlicincn seatter themselves abóüt the Öeld, running over the rpugh suifface, jnnipiri frora block to block on loóse ice, himïiihlg into holes and scri oui agaiR, wild witli exciteraenl h :nch forseals. Each man acts inilepeadéntly, düing the best be can ior hisasetf. Wlien lie lias killed a -eal he stops luit a minute to wliip oil Uie skin with the blubber. attached, and Éasten. a cord to it, and Uien off again after another seal, till he has gol as many as he can drag, when lie returns, towing tris load behiml hlnl, to the sWp. The men work w i 1 1 1 a wlll, givlng theiftselfs scarcely tiiue toeal ot rest. 1!iey receive a abare of the protits acdoirdñg to the number of seáis that each niau brÍDgS ill, and, it' (lie SeaSOfl ÍS suereesliil, an active and fdaiing man will make a large sum of money. The s;a!s are, valúable only for the oil whicli isfcried out of thefr hit. and which is ernplóyed for varióos lubricating purposes, and for their skins, which are tantied and used jirincipally. 1 belee, fèr shoe leather. They do not produce the pelt, which, when plueked and iliïed, is worked up into thoge lovely seal-skin jackets tliat are ;is destructiva t) the purse is they are delightful to the eye. Thenumber of seals brouglit iu.ánnually is Vëry gréat, as many as 500,000 having been killerl in a single seáson, and the business employs néarly 10,000 men. AVhat becomes o!' bhe tottlttèuöe of surviving seals is a problem I have never lieard satisi'acioiïlv snheil. The ice. 011 which llicv coiiic (inwn in swanns every yeajj fVoin the Xortli, melts d,uring summer inontiis sopo after coming in contact iik the waviu waters of the. Gulf Streani. Vfliat chén )ecomes of the seals? Do they Qnd tlieir way back Ihrongh thoiisands of WEltery miles to Pölat brrïhiilace, or do they remáiii scattered about along the shores of XcwIuinHlland anil the neighboctag eoabinent? H ba problem in natuial hisiory similar to the eel puzzle ai homo. for we are still in gnorance as to what Ik 'comes of tho millioiis of full-grpwn eejs that desceud our rivers with each autiunn tlood, but which are nevcr seén reascending the stream.