54 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



this place about one hundred huts, where there is constant excitement 

 from February till the. end of March, while during the rest of the year 

 these huts are deserted. 



About the middle of March, the young phocse are large enough to 

 leave the ice and swim toward the open sea, whither the old ones do not 

 follow them. They assemble in the Gulf of Mezene, where they rest on 

 the ice and pair. The pieces of ice in the gulf are sheltered from the 

 wind, and are not carried about by the waves, although they melt a 

 little, especially during the rainy periods. 



Numerous societies of huntsmen assemble in the beginning of April 

 at the mouth of the river Koulo'i, in order to follow for several weeks 

 the chase of the phocse on the ice. They use sailing-vessels 22 feet 

 long, with an iron-plated bottom. Every vessel is manned by seven 

 huntsmen, is completely equipped, and furnished with provisions aud 

 fuel. 



The huntsmen all leave the shore at the same time; and, having 

 reached the floating ice, they draw their vessels on the ice, and there 

 establish a vast encampment. The younger and more active huntsmen 

 are sent out to reconnoiter. Provided with snow-shoes, they hasten in 

 ail directions to search for the phocse. As soon as they observe a flock, 

 they advise the other huntsmen of the fact, and these all run toward 

 the spot, drawing their boats after them. Having arrived withiu gun- 

 shot distance, the most expert are placed in the front rank and com- 

 mence the chase; for every shot must kill, and not merely wound, lost 

 the cries of the wounded phocse frighten the whole flock and make them 

 speed away. The animals which are killed are then placed in the boats, 

 and the huntsmen return to the shore — sometimes on the ice, sometimes 

 on the open sea — to deposit there the result of the chase, and bring new 

 provisions to the comrades who had been left there. 



The huntsmen usually receive from their master, provisions and cloth- 

 ing for the whole season, and must give him in return half or even two- 

 thirds of all the animals which have been killed. The more hardened 

 and expert a huntsman is, the larger is his share. Every society of 

 twenty huntsmen elects a " starosta," (the old one*) whose duty it is to 

 guard the coast and prepare the food, without receiving for this a larger 

 share than the other huntsmen. 



On the western coast of the White Sea, (called the Terski coast,) the 

 phocse-chase is not as productive as on the eastern coast, because the 

 pieces of ice, driven toward the north, float along the shore. Scarcelj T 

 more than 15,000 "pouds" (540,000 pounds) of phocse are caught there 

 every year. 



In these latitudes, the principal meeting-place of the huntsmen is six- 

 teen " versts" (about nine miles) north of the river Pouoi, and is called 

 Deviataya. Huts are built here, and about five hundred huntsmen 

 assemble, who form themselves into societies. Every society is composed 

 of a master and three huntsmen. While one of the members of the 



