NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY, 1898.
By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 10th of March, 1898, the steam sealing fleet left the harbour of St. John's, Newfoundland, under the most favourable auspices, the prognostications as to their probable success, as well as that of the sailing vessels which had preceded them, being cheering in the extreme. A local paper, speaking of the departure of the fleet, says, "never did the voyage begin under more auspicious circumstances." On the 27th of March these sanguine hopes were rudely dispelled, and the whole colony plunged into grief by the news of the most terrible disaster ever recorded in the annals of the Seal fishery. The s.s. 'Greenland' was reported sheltering in Bay de Verd, and the next day she arrived at St. John's with the bodies of twenty-five of her crew which had perished on the ice, and reported twenty-three others as missing, whose bodies were never recovered; many of the survivors being terribly frost-bitten. The cause of this disaster will be briefly explained farther on, but, as may be imagined, such a terrible commencement threw the deepest gloom over what was in other respects a fairly successful voyage. Nor was this the only fatality which had to be recorded, for the 'Leopard' also lost two men, and the 'Mastiff' became a total wreck, her crew, however, being happily rescued.
By virtue of an enactment which came into force in the past season, the steamers were allowed to commence killing on the 12th of March instead of on the 14th, as heretofore, and the season is prolonged to the 1st of May instead of ending on the 20th of April. The sailing vessels also, under certain restrictions, are granted a bounty of 4 dols. per ton; this, it is hoped, may prove beneficial in inducing many vessels which would otherwise remain idle at that time, to engage in the fishery, and thus find employment for both men and ships. By some it is
