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Show 1868.] MR. R. BROWN ON THE SEALS OF GREENLAND. 423 Every one knows when it commences its migration from the south to the north, but nobody knows where the Seal goes to when it disappears off the coast. Between the time they leave the coast in the spring and return in the summer they beget their young; and this seems to be accomplished on the pack-ice a great distance from land* viz. in the Spitzbergen sea. It is at this period that the Seal-ships come after them, as referred to already. Of course a few stragglers occasionally do not leave the coast, and produce their young close to the land; but such exceptions do not at all affect the rule laid down. It is a very familiar fact that round the Spitzbergen seas in April the sealers get the best catch. At this season they accumulate in immense numbers on the pack and can be killed en masse; but Dr. Rink cannot believe that in this time the Seals could migrate from the west coast of Greenland to Spitzbergen, the distance being too great. In support of this argument, it is pointed out that in the winter the Seal goes in the opposite direction to that of Spitzbergen, and cannot be seen in the northern parts of Davis's Strait or Baffin's Bay ; it is possible therefore, he thinks, that the Seals of Baffin's Bay go in the spring down the west side of Davis's Strait to Newfoundland and Labrador, and supply the bulk of those killed there at that season, that in the winter they cross Davis's Strait and beget their young in that region, and after this cross again to the southern portion of Greenland. One would think that if the Seals came from Spitzbergen there would at this season be great numbers met on the passage round Cape Farewell. At other seasons of the year it is certainly the abundance or otherwise of their food which determines which way the Seal will take. In June the Seals go to feed on fish up the fjords; but what way they go in July, and where they may be in August, is still a matter of doubt. It is often argued in Greenland that in the "old times" Seals were more numerous than now, and that the great slaughter by the European sealers in Spitzbergen and Newfoundland has decreased their numbers on the shores of Greenland. The worthy Inspector of south Greenland therefore rejoices that the recent failures of the Seal-hunting in the former localities will have a tendency to again increase their numbers in Davis's Strait and Baffin's Bay, and thereby bring an increase of prosperity to his hyperborean subjects. Economic value and hunting.-To the Greenlander this Seal is of vast importance for its oil, flesh, and hide. One full-grown animal will weigh on an average about 230 lbs., of which the skin and blubber weigh 100 lbs., and the meat 93 lbs., the remainder being the head, blood, and entrails. The edible parts may therefore be said to reach the amount of 100 lbs.; but this weight also includes the bones. The blubber of one at the latter part of the year would probably fill about one-third of a cask, but would not yield over a fourth part of that quantity when the animals return in the spring-after procreating. The yearly catch in the Danish settlements is estimated at 36,000f. * Rink, lib. cit., et O. Fabricius in Nat. Selsk. Skrift. /. c. t Fide Rink, /. c. |
