the system of husbanding the stock as easy and certain as that of destroying it. They also do not apply to the fishery on the shores of New Zealand, as, owing to the reckless system of slaughter pursued there during the past thirty years, the seals are already more or less exterminated in that part, and the seal fishery there may be considered as a thing of the past. But, to return to Mr. Buckland's letter, he gives us the following account, furnished by Captain Gray, of the method in which the seal hunting is carried on, and, as Captain Gray has probably taken part in the business for several years, the account is, no doubt, perfectly accurate and trustworthy :-"On the seals being reached," he writes, "the men are sent over the ice, the harpooners armed with rifles, the other men with seal-clubs, knife and steel; also a rope to drag the skins to the ship. And now a work of brutal murder and cruelty goes on enough to make the hardest-hearted turn away with loathing and disgust. The harpooner chooses a place where a number of young seals are lying, knowing well that the mothers will soon make their appearance to see if the young are safe, and are then shot without mercy. This sort of work goes on for a few days, until tens of thousands of young seals are left motherless to die of starvation, not so much from the number of old ones killed (although too many of them are slain at this season, 40,000 being killed last year in March) as from those wounded and scared away. In a short time the old ones become shy, and will not come near where the men are standing, but keep at a respectful distance. It is horrible to see the young ones trying to suck the carcases of their mothers, their eyes starting out of the sockets, looking the very picture of famine," &c., &c. Now, the main point in this account, and what is most deserving of attention, would appear to be the reckless waste and unnecessary cruelty which takes place, owing to the killing of the seals commencing before the young ones are able to take care of themselves. This would seem to be the more wanton and foolish, as it is stated that the young seals are at that age only worth about one shilling per skin, and are said to contain little or no oil. The fishery usually commences about the 20th of March, but sometimes even earlier than this, and the young ones are, on that date, generally about a day or two old. Were they left unmolested until the 5th of the following month, so rapid is their growth that Mr. Buckland states their skins would then be worth three or four shillings a-piece, and 100 seals would yield oil to the value of from £35 to £40. Thus it becomes evident that, by commencing the annual battue some ten or twelve days later than has hitherto been the custom, not only would a great amount of unnecessary cruelty be avoided, but, what is of more importance from a business point of view, the profits of the trade would also be considerably increased. The young seals would not be left to die in thousands from starvation owing to their mothers

being killed before the pups are old enough to provide for themselves, and such of the young seals as were killed and taken would be worth ten or twelve times as much as they would have been worth if killed, as is now the custom, on or about the 25th March. But the most important point in the whole question is that if this reckless waste and indiscriminate slaughter without regard to the preservation of the stock is allowed to continue, the days of the trade are numbered, as, in a very few years, there will be neither seals nor seal fisheries, at any rate so far as the neighbourhood of Jan Mayen is concerned. And this is the fishery in which we are chiefly interested, as it is the only one, so far as we are aware, in the prosecution of which British vessels take a prominent part.

It was stated some months ago, in a continental paper, that the number of vessels proceeding from the various countries of Europe to the Jan Mayen seal fishery was as follows:-from Norway, twenty-seven vessels, of which twelve are steamers; from Great Britain, twenty steamers, and a few sailing vessels; from Sweden, two vessels; from Germany, five steamers; and one sailing vessel from Holland-thus making a total of about sixty vessels that are engaged every year in this trade, which must therefore afford employment to a very considerable number of men, more especially as Norway alone is reported to have 2,000 men engaged on board the vessels sailing from that country. With reference, however, to the number of ships stated in the above account as proceeding from Great Britain, we must observe that it does not agree with reports which we have obtained from other sources, and which we have every reason for supposing to be perfectly trustworthy and accurate. From these reports we learn that the number of vessels sailing from the various ports in the United Kingdom are as follows:-from Dundee, eight vessels; from Peterhead, two; from Kirkcaldy, one; and from London, one. This would, therefore, only give a total of twelve ships sailing from this country, instead of twenty steamers, and a few sailing vessels, as stated in the continental newspaper referred to above. A trade, however, in which even as many as twelve vessels are employed, is one of considerable importance, and is sufficiently large to claim our careful attention, when, as now is the case with reference to the seal fishery, we learn that it is in imminent danger of being destroyed.

Mr. Buckland, in his letter, to which we referred at the commencement of this paper, stated that he and Captain Gray had submitted the case of the threatened destruction of the fishery to the authorities of the Board of Trade, with the view of obtaining an international treaty on the subject. He further states that they had been advised that the general view of the seal hunters should at once be obtained, and that at a meeting of the managing owners of the seal and whaling ships belonging to the port of

Peterhead, which had lately been held, it was unanimously resolved, "That it is expedient that the seal fishery should be protected by a close time, and that it should be prevented by legislative enactment, and if necessary by international agreement, from being prosecuted at a date earlier than the 6th of April in each year." He adds that a committee was formed to communicate these resolutions to the owners of seal and whale vessels belonging to other ports, and it was determined that a memorial should be sent to the Board of Trade.

These observations by Mr. Buckland are, we find, somewhat misleading, as, on enquiry, we are definitely informed that neither that gentleman nor Captain Gray ever submitted the case to the Board of Trade, nor was any memorial received from the shipowners of Peterhead. A memorial was, we believe, prepared some time afterwards at that port, but as some of the shipowners of the other principal port of the seal trade-viz., Dundee, omitted, or declined to sign it for some reason best known to themselves, the document appears to have died a natural death at the place where it was originated.

It was not until the month of September last, when rather more than a year and a half had elapsed since the appearing of Mr. Buckland's letter in the Times, that a despatch was received at the Foreign Office from Her Majesty's Minister at Stockholm, in which it was suggested that some international arrangement should be made to remedy the abuses prevalent in the seal fishery, and attention was called to a letter which had appeared in a Swedish newspaper on the subject. In that letter it was stated that since the month of May last, when the Norwegian seal fishers began to return, negociations had been going on, though up to that time without success, between the different shipowners, with a view to some understanding being arrived at as to postponing the opening of the fishery for one month later than has hitherto been the usual practice. The masters of the vessels, it said, gave heart-rending descriptions of the manner in which the fishery had been conducted during their recent expedition, owing to its having been commenced too soon. Thousands of pregnant female seals were seen swimming about, preparatory to giving birth to their young on the ice over the shoals frequented by the shrimps, on which the seals principally subsist, but the vessels were lying in wait for them, and such a destruction ensued that, after the lapse of three days, the fishery was utterly destroyed, while thousands of young seals were to be heard crying piteously after their slaughtered mothers. The letter further stated that it had been suggested that a committee of Norwegian shipowners should be instituted, who should prepare and lay before each owner for signature a document, by which he should solemnly pledge himself not to go, or allow his vessel to go, to sea until a fixed date, which would be different for steamers and sailing vessels; but that as no agreement

could, however, be come to on that point, the diplomatists of the country had been urged by the papers to take the initiative in the matter.

The despatch received at the Foreign Office from Her Majesty's Minister at Stockholm, was forwarded at once, we are informed, to the Board of Trade, and that Department forthwith took steps to investigate the matter, in order that something might be done to prevent the threatened destruction of the fishery. In the first instance, it was found to be necessary to ascertain the views of the traders of this country who are interested in the seal fishery, and to learn from them whether they were prepared to impose any, and, if so, what, restrictions upon the manner in which it was conducted. After some preliminary correspondence upon the subject, it was decided that a conference should be held at Dundee, on the 2nd of December, at which the owners and masters of the vessels engaged in the trade should discuss the matter before an officer of the Board of Trade who would be sent down from London for that purpose. That Department accordingly instructed Mr. Frederick Jennings, one of their officers, to proceed to Dundee and conduct the enquiry.

From the report of the meeting, given in the Dundee Advertiser of the 3rd of December, we find that there were present on that occasion, on behalf of the Dundee companies, Mr. David Bruce, manager of the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company; Mr. George Welch, manager of the Tay Whale Fishing; and Mr. James Miller, joint-manager of the New Arctic Company, besides many other owners and masters; the Peterhead traders were represented by Mr. Alexander Robertson and Captain David Gray, of the Eclipse, s.s., the latter being the gentleman referred to at the commencement of this paper as having furnished Mr. Buckland with much interesting information on this subject. The proceedings of the meeting were commenced by Mr. Jennings reading to those present a letter, which had been previously addresed to the principal companies interested in the fishery, by the Board of Trade, and which set forth the object which that Department had in view in bringing about a conference of the traders and shipowners connected with this business. Amongst the gentlemen who afterwards addressed the meeting, Captain J. B. Walker remarked that the fishery was at present conducted in the same manner as it had been for years, but that the vessels engaged in the trade were now more powerful, and could more easily get among the fish. He approved of having a close time for the fishery, both on the grounds of humanity and because the young seals would be better developed. Captain Soutar also thought that the killing of the seals ought not to commence till the 5th of April, as the young ones would then be of more value, and stated that last year the sealing was actually finished just about the time when it ought to have begun. The question of whether there should not also be a fixed date for ending the fishery was also raised, and after a long discussion, in which Captain

Adams, Mr. Bruce, and Captain Gray took part, the following resolutions were finally agreed upon, and carried :

"1.-That, in the opinion of those present, it is necessary for the preserva

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tion of the seal and the permanent benefit of those engaged in the fishing, that a close time should be established."

"2.-That the fishing should not commence till the 5th of April, and should not be prolonged beyond the 15th of May, the close time extending between said dates."

"3. That the close time should be enforced by a treaty or agreement amongst the Governments of the countries to which vessels engaged in the fishing belong, and that other Governments should be invited to become parties to such treaty or agreement in the event of vessels belonging to their subjects afterwards engaging in the trade." “4.—That under such treaty or agreement, penalties of considerable

amount should be prescribed for infraction of the rules established by it, and that half of such penalties, or such portion of them as may be deemed expedient, be payable to the crews or parties who may give such information as may lead to convictions against vessels or parties transgressing."

These resolutions were afterwards laid before the Board of Trade by Mr. Jennings. And here we must remark that a rather singular coincidence happened in connection with this conference, as on the very day on which it was sitting at Dundee-viz., the 2nd of December, a despatch was received by the Board of Trade from the Swedish Government, expressing its desire for the co-operation of this country in an international commission with a view to concerting measures for the preservation of the seal tribe, especially on the island of Jan Mayen. In answer to this despatch, the Board of Trade have, we understand, forwarded, through the Foreign Office, a copy of the resolutions passed at the meeting at Dundee for the information of the Swedish Government, and have submitted for its consideration whether it would not be advisable, if it approves of those resolutions, for the Governments of both countries to pass a law binding on their own subjects, adding that if the fishing vessels of other countries should hereafter join in the trade it would, of course, be necessary to invite the Governments of those countries to pass similar laws.

It will thus be seen, that, as the matter stands at present, there is a strong probability that before many months have elapsed some legislative measure will be passed, both in this country and that of Sweden, providing a close time for the protection of the fishery. But a difficulty may afterwards arise with reference to vessels sailing under other flags, as it is quite open to any enterprising but dishonourable trader either of this country or of Sweden, to have his vessel registered in a foreign country, and so place himself in a position in which he will be able to send his vessel to