Part 35 (1/2)
One afternoon, however, towards the end of the month, he reported more cheering news.
”Oh, there are such a lot of seals on the rocks!” he called out from the top of the cliff, without waiting to come down. ”Why, there must be hundreds of them there, crawling in and out of the caves on their flappers, to and from the sea! Which will be the best way to tackle them, brother, we can reach them from here, you know?”
Fritz, who was below seated outside the hut, just preparing to mend some of his clothes that had long needed looking after, in a moment became equally excited, pitching the dilapidated garments back inside the hut and putting off the work of repairing to some future day.
”Come down sharp, Eric, and help me to get the boat out,” he cried. ”We must attack them from seaward; for, if we went at them from the cliff, they would at once take to the water, and so escape us. Descend at once, while I am getting the guns and tackle ready!”
”Right you are!” shouted the sailor lad in answer. ”I'll be down with you in a brace of shakes!”
No sooner had he uttered the words than he was scrambling down by the tussock-gra.s.s through the waterfall gully; while, at the same time, Fritz below was proceeding hurriedly to collect the various articles required for the sealing expedition, which had been put away on one side so as to be handy for just such an emergency:-- the loaded rifles, with spare cartridges; the two harpoons, to each of which a long coiled-up line was attached; the strong boat-hook to pull in the carcases of their victims; and, other little etceteras.
The common seal, which is frequently seen on the north coast of Scotland amongst the Hebrides and Shetland Islands, and the sea bear of Cape Horn and the Magellan Straits, are both very similar in their general habits to the Greenland seal of the Esquimaux; and the animals usually herd together in flocks or droves of some thirty to a hundred, each male having a certain number of females under his charge--the males being some six to eight feet long and the females of less dimensions.
The seals invariably frequent the most desolate rocks and caverns, where they can have ready access to the sea, which is their proper element; and, in the north and extreme south, they live on the ice-peaks as a rule, getting the fish they require for their food by diving off and catching their prey in the same way that an otter does.
The wildest and stormiest seas appear to delight them most. In such they may be seen, sporting amidst the breakers and rough water, in the highest of spirits apparently, and escaping scatheless where other creatures would be dashed to pieces on the rocks that form their temporary homes. Although they do not a.s.semble on sh.o.r.e in any numbers, except during the summer months of the lat.i.tudes in which they are found, they are never far-distant from their favourite haunts at any time, the reason for their not being seen, most probably, being that they only leave the water at night during the winter, or else because the stormy weather prevents those who go after them from approaching their habitats and so noticing them.
By the time Eric descended the cliff, Fritz had the boat ready to shove off, with their hunting gear inside and all necessary weapons for the chase; so, the two were soon on their way round the headland, steering towards the seal-caves on the western side of the island.
”You never saw such a lot, brother,” Eric went on to say, when they had embarked and were working round the coast. ”There were hundreds of small ones, while some were big monsters that had long noses and seemed to be double the size of the others!”
”Ah, those were probably sea elephants,” said Fritz. ”I should like to catch one. The fur, they say, is not so good as that of the common seal, but they yield an immense lot of oil from their blubber--from eight to ten barrels, I have been told.”
”Really?” observed Eric. ”Why, one or two of those gentlemen would soon fill up our casks!”
”Yes, and I shouldn't regret it,” said Fritz. ”We should then have a good stock ready against the time Captain Brown returns to visit us with the _Pilot's Bride_!”
”Aye, I should like that,” replied the other; and then, as both rowing and sailing--for the wind was light--the boat neared the rock caves of the western coast, the brothers grew too excited to talk any more.
Presently, they hove in sight of their hunting-ground; whereupon, they at once stopped the way of the boat in order to map out their campaign.
It did not take long for them to do this; and the gist of the plan could be seen in the arrangements they made for battle.
Fritz and Eric both put their rifles ready on the thwarts of the boat, and the harpoons were also placed handy in the bows along with the boat- hook; then, lowering the lugsail which the little craft carried, they m.u.f.fled their oars with some rags they had prepared and pulled in steadily towards the beach.
As they got nearer, the seals could be seen swarming on the rocks, while the noise they made--something like the bleating of sheep mingled with a hoa.r.s.e growling roar, not dissimilar to that of an angry bull in the distance--could be heard plainly while the brothers were yet more than a mile off.
Some of the seals were swimming about in the water, but the majority were basking on the huge slabs of rocks that had been broken off from the face of the cliff by the onslaught of the waves and which now lay on the beach at its base, partly in and partly out of the sea.
”Now, Eric, be ready!” called out Fritz in a hoa.r.s.e whisper. ”Do you see those two fellows on that boulder nearest us?”
”Yes,” whispered Eric in return, almost breathless with excitement.
”Then, you take the right-hand one, and I will make sure of the one to the left. Aim low and steadily at the head, for that is the only vital part a ball will reach. Remember, if you only wound him, he'll slip into the water and dive out of our reach!”
”Right you are; I'm ready,” was Eric's reply.
”Wait till I give the word, then,” said Fritz.