ese
vessels, unless they are going to make a long stay, for they are past
masters in the art of "standing off and on." The boat came alongside--a
big, substantially-built craft of the whale-boat type, but twice the
size--manned by ten sturdy-looking fellows, as unkempt and wild-looking
as any pirates. They were evidently put to great straits for clothes,
many curious makeshifts being noticeable in their rig, while it was so
patched with every conceivable kind of material that it was impossible
to say which was the original or "standing part." They brought with them
potatoes, onions, a few stunted cabbages, some fowls, and a couple of
good-sized pigs, at the sight of which good things our eyes glistened
and our mouths watered. Alas! none of the cargo of that boat ever
reached OUR hungry stomachs. We were not surprised, having anticipated
that every bit of provision would be monopolized by our masters; but of
course we had no means of altering such a state of things.

The visitors had the same tale to tell that seems universal--bad trade,
hard times, nothing doing. How very familiar it seemed, to be
sure. Nevertheless, it could not be denied that their sole means of
communication with the outer world, as well as market for their goods,
the calling whale-ships, were getting fewer and fewer every year; so
that their outlook was not, it must be confessed, particularly bright.
But their wants are few, beyond such as they can themselves supply.
Groceries and clothes, the latter especially, as the winters are very
severe, are almost the only needs they require to be supplied with from
without. They spoke of the "Cape" as if it were only across the way, the
distance separating them from that wonderful place being over thirteen
hundred miles in reality. Very occasionally a schooner from Capetown
does visit them; but, as the seals are almost exterminated, there is
less and less inducement to make the voyage.

Like almost all the southern islets, this group has been in its time the
scene of a wonderfully productive seal-fishery. It used to be customary
for whaling and sealing vessels to land a portion of their crews, and
leave them to accumulate a store of seal-skins and oil, while the
ships cruised the surrounding seas for whales, which were exceedingly
numerous, both "right" and sperm varieties. In those days there was no
monotony of existence in these islands, ships were continually coming
and going, and the islanders prospered