THE PHOCAS OF TERRE NEUVE. BY REV. PHILIP TOCQUE, A.M. (Read 2nd April, 1892.) Naturalists describe no less than 15 species of seals. The kind most plentiful and which pass along the coast of Newfoundland with the field. ice, are the Phoca greenlandica, which is the technical or scientific name given to the harp or half-moon seal, which frequents the coast of Terre Neuve or Newfoundland. About the last of the month of February these seals whelp, and in the northern seas deposit millions of their young on the glassy surface of the frozen deep. At this period they are covered with a coat of white fur, slightly tinged with yellow. I have seen these "white coats" lying six and eight on a piece of ice, resembling so many lambs enjoying the solar rays. They grow very rapidly, and about three weeks after their birth begin to cast their white coat. They are now captured, being killed by a stroke across the head with a bat, gaff or boat-hook. At this time they are in prime condition, the fat being in greater quantity and containing purer oil than at a later period of their growth. It appears to be necessary to their existence that they should pass a considerable time in repose on the ice; and during this state of helplessness we see the goodness of Providence in providing these amphibious creatures with a thick coat of fur, and a superabundant supply of fat as a defense from the intense cold of the ice and the northern blasts. Sometimes, however, numbers of them are found frozen in the ice. When one year old these seals are called "bedlamers." The female is without the dark spots on the back, which form the harp or half moon, and the male does not show this mark until two years old. The voice of the seal resembles that of the dog, and when a vessel is in the midst of myraids of these creatures, their barking and howling sounds like that of so many dogs, literally driving away sleep during the night. The general appearance of the seal is not unlike that of a dog, whence some have called it the sea dog, sea wolf, etc. These seals seldom bring forth more than one, and never more than two, at a litter. They are said to live to a great age. Sometimes a stray one is caught in a net, reduced to a mere skeleton, with teeth all gone, which is attributed to old age. Buffon, the great French naturalist, says: "The time that intervenes between their birth and their full growth being many years, they, of course must live very long. I am of opinion that these animals live upwards of a century, for we know that cetaceous animals in general live longer than quadrupeds; and, as the seal fills up the chasm between the one and the other, it must participate of the nature of the former, and consequently live much longer than the latter." The Newfoundland seals probably visit the Irish coat. A number of seals were killed on the west coast of Ireland in 1856, among them the old harp, and Sir William Logan gives an account of the skeleton of this kind of seal having been found embedded in the clay around Montreal 40 feet deep. The Phoca cristata, or hooded seals, are so called from a piece of loose skin on the head, which can be inflated at pleasure. When menaced or attacked the hood is drawn over the face and eyes as a defense. The female is not provided with a hood. An old dog-hood is a very formidable animal. The male and female are generally found together, and if the female happens to be killed first, the male becomes furious. Sometimes 10 or a dozen men have peen engaged upwards of an hour in despatching one of them. I have known a half a dozen hand-spikes to be broken in endeavoring to kill one of these dog-hoods. They frequently attack their assailants, and snap off the handles of the gaffs as if they were cabbage stalks. When they inflate their hoods it is very difficult to kill them. Shot does not penetrate the hood, and unless the animal can be hit somewhere about the side of the head it is almost a hopeless case to attempt to kill hin. They are very large, some of their pelts which I have measured being from 14 to 18 feet in length. The young hoods. are called "blue backs." Their fat is not so thick nor so pure as that of the harps, but their skins are of greater value. They slso breed further to the north than the harps and are generally found in great numbers on the outer edge of the ice. They are said not to be so plentiful and to cast their young a few weeks later than the harps. The harbour seal Phoca vitulina frequents the harbors of Newfoundland summer and winter. Numbers are taken during the winter in seal nets. The square flipper, which is perhaps the great seal of Greenland Phoca barbata, is now seldom seen. The walrus Trichecus rosmarus, sometimes called the sea horse or sea cow is now seldom met with. Formerly this species of seal was frequently captured on the ice. This animal resembles the seal in its body and limbs, though different in the form of its head, which is armed with two tusks, sometimes 24 inches long, consisting of coarse ivory; in this respect much like an elephant. The under jaw is not provided with any cutting or canine teeth, and is compressed to afford room for the tusks, projecting downwards from the upper jaw. It is a very large animal, sometimes measuring 20 feet long, and weighing from 500 to 1,000 pounds. Its skin is said to be an inch thick, and covered with short yellowish brown hairs. What is called the seal is the skin with the fat or blubber attached, the carcase being left on the ice where it is killed. The flesh of the seal is frequently eaten, the heart and kidneys are like the pig's, and taste like them. The first thing that occurs in Newfoundland to break the winter's torpor is the bustle and activity attending the outfitting of the vessels for the seal fishery. In its prosecution are combined a spirit of commercial enterprise, a daring hardihood and intrepidity almost without parallel. The interest of every individual, from the richest to the poorest, is interwoven with it-from the bustling and enterprising merchant that, with spy-glass in hand, paces his wharf, sweeping ever and anon the distant horizon for the first view of his returning ship, to the little broom girl that creeps along the street, hawking her humble commodity. The return of the seal hunters reminds one of Southey's poems, "Madoc" and "Roderick the last of the Goths." The seal fishery of Newfoundland has assumed a degree of importance far surpassing the most sanguine expectations of those who first embarked in the enterprise, and has now become one of the greatest sources of wealth to the country. In the commencement the seal fishery was prosecuted in large boats, which sailed about the middle of April and as its importance began to be developed, schooners of from 30 to 50 tons were employed, which sailed on the 17th of March. In 1845 the number of sailing vessels employed was 350, from 60 to 150 tons manned by 12,000 men. The time spent on the voyage was from two to six weeks. The sailing vessels have now been mostly superseded by steamers from 300 to 800 tons, carrying from 150 to 280 men each. In 1891, 19 steamers were engaged in the seal fishery. One steamer brought in 8,000 young harps the first trip and 18,000 old seals the second trip. The total value of both trips estimated at $132,000. Some of the steamers have brought in from 20,000 to 40,000 seals. A number of seals are taken in seal nets in winter and spring. A few years ago 150,000 seals were taken to the shore by persons who had walked on the ice in some of the northern bays of the island. Some years ago the ice was packed and jammed so tight in some of the bays for several weeks, that the seals on it could find no opening to go down, and numbers of them crawled upon an island, when some people happened to land upon the island and discovered them; 1,500 seals were slaughtered among the bushes. Seals have been known to crawl several miles over land. The number of seals taken yearly on the coast of Newfoundland is from 400,000 to 600,000, producing, commercially, no less a sum than $1,500,000. The seals are sold by weight. The young are sold at from $4 to $6 and the old ones at from $4 to $5 per cwt. The price, however, is regulated by the value of the oil in the British market. A young seal will weigh from 30 to 50 pounds, and an old seal from 80 to 200 pounds. It is calculated that the fat of 80 young harp seals will produce a ton of oil. The seal fishery is a constant scene of bloodshed and slaughter. Here you behold a heap of seals writhing and crimsoning the ice with their blood, rolling from side to side in dying agony. There you see another lot, while the last spark of life is not yet extinguished, being stripped of their skins and fat, their writhings and heavings making the unpractised hand shrink with horror to touch them. The seal fishery being prosecuted during the vernal equinox is rendered particularly dangerous. It is a voyage of hopes and fears, trials and disappointments, and the prosecution of it causes more anxiety, excitement and solicitude than any other business in the island. Sometimes the seals are sought after at a distance of from two to four miles from the vessel, over huge rugged masses of ice, and during this toilsome journey the men have to jump from one pan of ice to another, across horrid chasms where yawns the dark blue water ready to engulf them. Sometimes "slob," or ice ground up by the action of the waves and covered with snow, is mistaken for hard ice, and the poor sealers leaping upon it are at once buried in the ocean. Not unfrequently, when the sealers are at a distance from the vessel in search of their prey, a freezing snowdrift or a thick. fog comes on, when no object around can be descried, and the distant ship is lost. The bewildered sealers gather together. They try one course, then another, but in vain, no vessel appears. The lights shown from the vessel cannot be seen, the guns fired and horns blown cannot be heard. Night comes on, and the wretched sealers perish through fatigue, cold, and hunger on the glittering surface of the frozen deep. Scarcely a fishing season passes but the widow's wail and the orphan's cry tell of the dreary, the dreadful death of the seal hunters. Sometimes vessels are crushed between two large masses of ice called "rollers," when all on board are consigned to one common destruction. The islands of ice or icebergs, are dreadful engines of destruction. Many of these iron-bound ships come in contact with them, and sometimes vessel and crew perish together. The Newfoundland seal is different from the Behring sea seal. The Newfoundland seal is what is called the hair or bearded seal. They are sought after for the value of their fat instead of their fur. The Newfoundland sealskins are worth not more than 50 or 60 cents apiece, whereas the fur seal, when dressed, is worth $60 a piece, in first hands. All the Newfoundland seals are whelped on the ice and not on the land as the fur seal. CIRCULAR-LETTER ADDRESSED TO ASTRONOMERS OF ALL NATIONS. PROPOSED CHANGE IN RECKONING THE ASTRONOMICAL DAY. TORONTO, CANADA, 21st April, 1893. The Canadian Institute in co-operation with The Astronomical and Physical Society of Toronto, have had under consideration the subject of Astronomical Time Reckoning, and have, after much deliberation and consultation, appointed a Joint Committee to suggest the best means of ascertaining the views of astronomers throughout the world. The Joint Committee have presented the accompanying Report, in which both Societies concur. On behalf of the two Societies we have the honour to direct attention to the observations and recommendations of the Joint Committee, as well as to the appended extracts, expressing the views of the following gentlemen :— 1. Sir John Herschell. 2. M. Otto Struvè, Imperial Astronomer, Pulkowa. 3. Mr. W. H M. Christie, Astronomer Royal, Greenwich. |