Thomas Southwell

“ In the north are the Horsey and Waxham marshes, further inland the valley of the Bure has its miles of reed-rond and mowing marsh; but the finest stretch of all is the great level plain, affording in summer and early autumn pasturage for innumerable cattle and sheep, through which the traveller by rail passes in his journey from Reedham eastward to Yarmouth, or south-east nearly to Lowestoft. ”

“ In the Greenland Seas the Walrus has already become a rare animal, in Davis Strait it is rapidly becoming scarce, and the enormous numbers which formerly inhabited Behring's Strait are subject to such exhaustive demands that they cannot long survive. When we take into consideration the ease with which these animals can be approached, and their slow rate of reproduction, it is safe to predict that the time is not far distant when the species will become totally extinct. It is curious how a new industry may affect the very existence of an old species. ”

“ Of the true Fen there is little left to enable any conception to be formed as to its appearance, even, say, a century ago, much less in still earlier times, when the land was forest clad and inhabited by the Wolf, the Wild Boar, and the Beaver; whilst giant Stags and herds of fierce Urus roamed its glades, and Cranes and Pelicans made their homes in its fastnesses. The trees have been swallowed up by the growing peat, which has also preserved the remains of its vanished fauna. ”

“ But their progress is by no means an uninterrupted one: many and violent are the storms to which they are exposed, and the ice is driven hither and thither, sometimes comparatively open, at others rafted and piled in inextricable confusion, many of the young Seals perishing owing to the ice-fields on which they lie being broken up. Westerly winds drive the ice off the shore, and easterly winds in the contrary direction, or it may be broken up and more or less dispersed by northerly gales. The weather too is variable in the extreme, the changes being often sudden and unexpected. ”

“ I do not think the masters of the Gulf boats make up their minds as to what Seals they are going after until they enter the Gulf and ascertain the state of the ice, and how the winds are. Owing to the prevalence of westerly winds, I do not think the eastern Harps were ever seen last year, and these same winds blew the western Harps, which are seldom got at, towards the Newfoundland shore and the open Atlantic to the southward of that. ”

“ My object in writing is to show how very interesting to an ichthyologist such a place as the Lowestoft fish-wharf is, and to express my regret that there is now, to my knowledge, nobody living there who takes an interest in the subject. ”

“ As part of the produce of the late voyage, sixty-eight Musk Oxen will be noticed; ten of these were from East Greenland, the remainder from the mainland of Arctic America in the form of skins procured from the natives. This is sad reading, for not only does it threaten the extinction of this most interesting animal, but also of one of the food supplies of the Indians and Esquimaux of this sterile land, who maintain at the best a very precarious existence on the flesh of the Reindeer, the Walrus, and the Musk Ox ”

“ The result of this state of things was that the ice became "hammered" against the east coast of Greenland, and was so compacted, that where in ordinary years a belt exists extending seaward from 150 to 200 miles, with open floes such as the Whales love to frequent, in the past season it did not reach more than fifty miles from the shore, and was packed so tight as to be perfectly impenetrable. This condition of the ice was of course fatal to the fishery, as the vessels were unable to search for the Whales in their favourite feeding grounds ”

“ Great uncertainty always exists as to the locality in which the breeding Seals will be found, and so entirely does this depend upon circumstances which it is impossible to anticipate with any degree of confidence, that the most experienced are often disappointed in their forecasts. What usually takes place on the east coast seems to be as follows:—Until the last days of February the breeding Harp Seals are found frequenting the neighbourhood of Greenbay and Whitebay, then, their time for reproducing having arrived, they all disappear, going off in search of suitable ice on which to whelp ”

“ From Acle to Yarmouth an excellent road runs straight across the marshes, whilst a railroad takes much the same course; and a second line of railway follows very nearly the same route as the old riverside track I spoke of earlier. Large sums are expended annually on drainage, and all through the summer, and often far into the autumn, the flat rich marshes are dotted over with cattle and sheep innumerable, luxuriating in the rich herbage."
From an ethnological point of view the men of North and East Norfolk are a vastly superior race to the mixed inhabitants of the Fens ”

“ Lawrence, but did not do very well, the bulk of the northern patch of Harp Seals in that locality having, it is presumed, been driven through the Strait towards Belle Isle by the strong westerly winds; what young Harps were got by the steamers are believed to have been taken from the southern patch, which is generally found inside St. Paul's and other islands in that neighbourhood, and as the large sheets of ice on which the young are whelped do not there, as a rule, break up until late in the season, it frequently happens that they cannot be got at. ”

“ In Davis Strait, on the other hand, Whales were in plenty in all their usual resorts, but from the many "escapes" it is probable they were very shy. There appears also to be a fair proportion of old and young fish, which promises well for the continuance of the species. The 'Diana' killed a mother and sucker in Lancaster Sound, early in July; also two other small Whales in the same locality. The 'Eclipse' also killed a very small Whale of four-foot bone, in Pond's Bay, where young fish are rarely met with. In the same locality the 'Diana' met with a fighting fish which gave them some trouble ”

“ Ramm, the person who shot the bird, tells me that he found it amongst the long grass on the bank or sea-wall, not far from the sea, at Cley, a locality which has produced many rare migrants, and at first took it for a Goldcrest, but on approaching to within two or three yards, the bird being very tame, he thought he recognized a Yellow-browed Warbler, a species he had seen before, and therefore secured it. ”

“ The Musk Ox is one of the easiest of wild animals to approach, and as the demand for their skins is unlimited and the supply very much the reverse, it is by no means unlikely that the species will be exterminated before its life-history is fully studied by naturalists. ”

“ Man is not the only enemy the breeding Seals have to contend with, and I fear that in the past season the smaller number taken by the sealers off Newfoundland is no indication of the total mortality amongst the "whitecoats," rough weather and the consequent disruption of the ice on which they were brought forth, added to the "rafting" caused by pressure, having probably been accountable for the loss of many more young Seals than were saved from the sealers by the impassable nature of the ice. ”

“ The total catch of the Dundee fleet was 6 Right Whales, 984 White Whales, 591 Walrus, 779 Seals, and 80 Bears, yielding 297 tons of oil and 112 cwts. of bone. The produce is of so miscellaneous a nature that I am unable to estimate its total value, but may say that the present price of whalebone is £1450 per ton (that under six feet long half-price) ; the oil, all round, £17 10s. per ton; White Whale skins vary from 30s. to 35s. each; and Walrus hides, if very large, may be worth as much as £40 each, or, if small, as little as 5s. each ”

“ The wharf for trawl-fish is often an even busier scene, as there is a greater diversity of fish and more buyers, and many of them of a different class to those who frequent the Herring wharf, where, as a rule, the merchants and curers are the purchasers. ”

“ Happily no such disaster has to be recorded as resulting from the voyage thus so auspiciously commenced.
Of the eighteen steamers present at the Newfoundland fishery fourteen made for the ice off the east coast, and four left channel for the Gulf fishery; the latter, as will be seen, meeting with only partial success. All those which fished off the east coast did well, and the young Harps (few old Seals were killed) were in exceptionally fine condition; at the whelping time severe frosts prevailed, and experience shows that in such weather the young Seals thrive and rapidly become fat. ”

“ The fauna and flora of this district must have been exceptionally interesting; of the latter, doubtless, a fairly accurate conception can be formed, but of the former we have few indications. Whether the Crane ever bred in the Norfolk Fens in historic times is uncertain, but seems probable; [2] it appears, however, to have been by no means a rare species. [3] I think there can be no doubt the Greylag Goose was formerly a regular breeder in this county, as well as in the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, [4] but when we come to the Bittern, there is no doubt on the subject ”

“ The Seal fishery in the Greenland Seas, so far as the Dundee vessels is concerned, has practically become a thing of the past, and, such as it is, has almost drifted into the hands of the Norwegian vessels. Only the 'Polar Star' and the 'Balæna' were present last season; the former killed fifty Seals, and the latter about 400, but later in the season this number was increased to 716. A total of 779 represented all the Seals brought home this season both by the Greenland and Davis Straits vessels. There were twelve Norwegian vessels at the Greenland sealing. ”

“ The Whale fishery in the past season has on the whole been fairly successful, but its most remarkable feature has been the continued apparent absence of Right Whales in the Greenland Seas, whereas in Davis Strait and in the adjoining waters they have been seen in abundance. ”

“ As a writer in the 'Field' of Oct. 20th observes, "it would be interesting to know how many of these harmless animals were shot down by the Norwegian hunters this season to enable them to capture the fourteen calves?" It is evident that the sooner the ice closes again on the Greenland coast, the better will be the chance of the survival of this interesting animal in that locality. ”

“ Some of the old sealing captains are men of great intelligence and wide experience, and their interest leads them to appreciate minute differences in the appearance and habits of the Seals which to a casual observer would pass unnoticed. ”

“ Unless there is a prevalence of strong westerly winds, or an unusually mild spring, these Harps are seldom got in any quantities. Capt. Joy says that the eastern Harps whelp on the ice in the neighbourhood of Cape Whittle, and are driven by the winds up or down the Gulf, or from shore to shore; he also told me that the people on the Magdalene Islands told him that a good many small black [dark coloured?] Seals whelp near there, and that their young take to the water as soon as born. ”

“ On the 23rd six more men were picked up alive, and sixteen dead. Only one other dead man was subsequently recovered, and on the 26th the search was abandoned and the 'Greenland' bore up for home, seriously damaged, and with twenty-five of her crew dead on board, twenty-three others being missing. The two men lost from the 'Leopard' probably perished from exhaustion, or walked into the water through ice-blindness; a third man was fifty-nine hours on the ice, and in a deplorable condition when rescued. ”

“ Gould's so-called Dalmatian Warbler—really Pallas's Willow Warbler—to a place in the list of accidental visitors to Britain; and it may be that, attention having been called to the distinguishing characters of the species, it will be found, as in some other instances, to be of more frequent occurrence than has hitherto been suspected. ”

“ The result of the season's fishing was 16 Whales, 494 Walruses, 53 Seals, and 145 Bears, producing 230 tuns of oil and 219 cwt. of bone; in addition to which was the produce of one Whale, 138 Walruses, and 3400 Seals, equal to 60 tuns of oil and 10 cwt. of bone, brought home from the Cumberland Gulf station by the Peterhead brig 'Alert.' No White Whales were killed, owing to the bays in which they are usually beached being blocked with ice. ”

“ The British vessels have quite abandoned the pursuit, and what there is left of the Greenland sealing is now quite in the hands of the Scandinavians, whose more economical outfits enable them to continue the struggle long after we have been driven from the field. ”

“ Since however they have been supplied with modern weapons they still destroy life to the utmost of their ability, without thought for the future, and, forgetful of their own wants, exchange the skins with white traders to an extent only limited by their capacity for slaughter, [1] not for necessaries only, but for luxuries they did better without in the past. ”

“ In the ten years, 1871 to 1880, inclusive, 218 vessels killed 2,434,063 Seals, and in the decade, 1891 to 1900, there fell to the lot of 181 vessels 2,422,125 of these animals. But these enormous numbers by no means represent the whole reckoning, for they are only the produce of the steam fleet, and do not include (i) those killed and lost on the ice, (ii) those taken by the schooners, or (iii) those killed from the shore, or on the Labrador coast. ”

“ The buyers crowd round, and amid jocular remarks, in which the seller does his part, trunk after trunk, piled with Turbot, Brill, Whiting, Plaice, Soles, Skate, and a dozen other kinds, are rapidly disposed of, whilst others are being as rapidly landed from fresh arrivals to take their place. ”

“ Should the vessel strike the ice to the north of the breeding Seals, there is nothing to form a guide to the position of the pack; but on the other hand, should it be too far south, there is nearly always some indication which points to that fact, such as the presence of birds or old Seals. ”

“ John's on the morning of the 22nd, heavily laden with the produce of 32,407 old and young Harps and Hooded Seals; others arrived in rapid succession. The 'Southern Cross' reached the whelping ice, some eighty miles north by east of the Funk Islands, on the morning of the 12th March, and had the monopoly of the locality for some time; this enabled her to load up very rapidly with young Harps, of which she killed 26,361, and only 202 old Seals. She was thus quite independent of the Hooded Seals, of which most of the other vessels went in search after taking in the young Harps ”

“ In October these Whales become scarce and poor in condition, owing it is believed to their reproducing some time previous to that date, and being engaged suckling their young; they then leave the coast, probably following their food supply. The ninety-eight Whales yielded 286 tons of oil and six tons of bone; the oil produced about £17 per ton ”

“ Another reason for the reduced average in weight is that the killing was all over in a very short period, leaving no time for the young ones to increase in weight, in which respect even a few days, as has been explained, would make a considerable difference. ”