Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/102

70 doubt, and some of the most experienced sealers still continue to make the port of St. John's their point of departure. Should the vessel strike the ice to the north of the breeding Seals, there is nothing to form a guide to the position of the pack; but on the other hand, should it be too far south, there is nearly always some indication which points to that fact, such as the presence of birds or old Seals. There appears also to be a natural inclination to work to the north in search of the Seals rather than to the south. It happened this year that the fierce gales from the N. and N.W., which prevailed from the 1st to the 20th of March, drove the ice on which the young Seals were then, well off the land, rapidly south to the neighbourhood of Cape Race, and thus they were missed by the majority of the vessels.

As affording some indication of the severity of the season, and of the hardships endured by the crews, I will give a brief outline of the voyage of the 'Aurora,' as reported by Captain Arthur Jackman, one of the most experienced of the commanders. Leaving St. John's on March 10th, the 'Aurora' struck the Seals on the 15th, about 150 miles off Cabot Island, and on that day and the 16th the crew killed 24,000 Seals. On the 17th, while the men were on the ice, "a terrible swell began to heave among the ice, smashing it up, and leaving the men battling for their lives on the floating pans; it was with the utmost difficulty they were got on board." From March 17th to April 7th the crew were engaged in picking up Seals at the risk of their lives, the ship often rolling rail-under; the result was that out of some 60,000 Seals killed only 27,900, nearly all young Harps, were recovered. The 'Aurora' then bore up for home, being at that time about 390 miles S.E. of Cape Race. Capt. Jackman never remembers Seals being taken so far south. Some conception of the terrible hardships and dangers of the voyage may be formed from the fact that four of the crew succumbed to cold and fatigue, and the report states that as many as one hundred men (out of a crew of 298) were laid up at one time with colds. The 'Terra Nova' also lost one of her crew. The 'Iceland,' which went to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is said to have made the quickest trip on record; she struck the Seals off Rose Blanche, and commenced to kill on March 15th, reaching Harbour Grace, on her return, with 22,000 young Harps, on the 23rd. The