Newfoundland in 1897 - Rumbolt

118 NEWFOUNDLAND :
transformed into a slaughter-house, red with the blood
of their murdered darlings, slain in their icy cradles,
and became a scene of horror and death. Such is the
seal- hunt of to-day, involving each year a vast destruc-
tion of old and young seal life for the benefit of man.
On the floating fields of Arctic ice the seals bring
forth their young about the end of February. In four
or five weeks these "white-coats," as the young are
called, are in the best condition for being taken, and
their fat then yields the finest oil. The daring hunters
dash into these ice-masses in their vessels, and when
the seal-herd is struck they leap on the ice,
kill the
young seals in myriads by a blow on the nose ; then,
with their sharp knives, detach the skin with the
adhering fat from the carcase, which is left on the ice,
while the " "
pelts are dragged over the ice to the ship,
and carried to port, where the fat is manufactured into
oil, and the skins are salted and exported.
In the earlier years of the seal fishery, stout
schooners of 50 to 200 tons were employed. They
were fitted to encounter the ice, and with the skill,
hardihood, and daring of the captains and men, the
industry was prosecuted with great
success. In those
days the seals were more numerous than at present,
and were taken nearer the shore. The annual catch
ranged from 300,000 to 500,000
seals. In 1831 the
largest catch ever taken was put on record 686,836
seals. In 1840 the number brought in was 631,385.
In 1857 some 400 vessels of 60 to 200 tons, their
united crews numbering 13,000 men, took part in the
fishery. After that came a decline for some years,