32. The fish which are caught on the coasts of Labrador, at the entrance of Hudson's Bay, in the Straits of Belleisle, and on fishing stations of similar advantages, are cured on the shore. They are first slightly salted, and then dried in the sun, either on the rocks, or on scaffolds erected for the purpose. In these coast fisheries, the operations commence in June, and continue until some time in August. The cod are caught in large seines, as well as with hook and line.
33. Seal Fishery.—There are several species of the seal; but the kind which is most numerous, and most important in a commercial view, is the common seal. It is found on the sea-coasts throughout the world, but in the greatest numbers in very cold climates, where it furnishes the rude inhabitants with nearly all their necessaries and luxuries.
34. The animal is valuable to the civilized world, on account of its skin and oil. The oil is pure, and is adapted to all the purposes to which that from the whale is applied. In the spring of the year, the seals are very fat; and, at that time, even small ones will yield four or five gallons of oil. The leather manufactured from the skins, is employed in trunk-making, in saddlery, and in making boots and shoes.
35. Since the whale fishery has declined in productiveness in the northern seas, sealing has arisen in importance; and accordingly, vessels are now frequently fitted out for this purpose, in both Europe and America; whereas, a few years since, it was regarded only as a part of the objects of a whaling voyage.
36. Our countrymen of New-England have particularly distinguished themselves in this branch of business; and the part of the globe which they have found to be the most favorable to their objects, has been the islands in the Antarctic Ocean. A sealing voyage to that quarter often occupies three years, during which time the hunters are exposed to great hardships, being often left in small detachments on desolate islands, for the purpose of pursuing the animals to greater advantage.
37. The best time for sealing in the Arctic Ocean, is in March and April, when the seals are often met with in droves of several thousands on the ice, which is either fixed, or floating in large pieces. When the sealers meet with one of these droves, they attack the animals with clubs, and stun them by a single blow on the nose. After all that can be reached, have been disabled in this way, the skin and blubber are taken off together.
38. This operation is called flenching, and is sometimes a horrible business; since some of the seals, being merely stunned, occasionally recover, and, in their denuded state, often make battle, and even leap into the water, and swim off. The skins, with the blubber attached to them, are packed away in the hold; and, in case the vessel is to return home soon, they are suffered to remain there, until she arrives in port; but, when this is not expected, the skins, as soon as convenient, are separated from the blubber, and the latter is put into casks. There are other methods of capturing the seal; but it is, perhaps, not necessary to enter into further details.
39. Whale Fishery.—There are five species of the whale, of which the Balæna Physalis, or razor-back, is the largest. When full grown, it is supposed to be about one hundred feet in length, and thirty or thirty-five feet in circumference. It is so powerful an animal, that it is extremely difficult to capture it; and, when captured, it yields but little oil and whalebone. The species to which whalers direct their attention is denominated the Mystecetus, or the right whale.
40. The mystecetus is found, in the greatest numbers, in the Greenland seas, about the island of Spitzbergen, in Davis' Straits, in Hudson's and Baffin's Bays, and in the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean. It is also found in the Antarctic Ocean, and along the coasts of Africa and South America, and occasionally on the coasts of the United States.
41. Each vessel engaged in this fishery, is generally fitted out by several individuals, who receive, of the return cargo of oil and whalebone, a portion corresponding to the amount which they have contributed to the common stock, after the men have received their proportion of it. Should the voyage prove altogether unsuccessful, which seldom happens, the owners lose the amount of the outfit, and the captain and hands, their time.