FISHERIES AND SEAL-HUNTING. 55 



society remains on shore with his sleigh and his reindeer, the other three 

 venture on the pieces of ice to discover the phocse, which are sleeping 

 there. Every huntsman wears over his clothes a short cloak of reindeer- 

 skin, called " sovik," and has on his feet large boots lined with far. At 

 the end of a long strap passed over his shoulder he draws a small boat, 

 weighing 20 kilograms. A game-bag with provisions is attached to 

 his belt. Flis gun on his shoulder, and having in his hand a loug stick, 

 with an iron point, he rapidly and skillfully advances, by means of his 

 snow-shoes, over the vast fields of snow and ice. The hunter who leads 

 directs his course by a mariner's compass, and with his iron-pointed 

 stick constantly tries the firmness of the ice. He acts as guide, and 

 his two comrades follow him in single file, drawing their boat after 

 them. When they have arrived at an expanse of water where phocse 

 are swimming, two of the huntsmen fire, while the third pushes the 

 boat into the water in order to take up the dead animals, which he 

 hoists into the boat by means of a boat-hook. 



The chase commences early in the morning, and the huntsmen do not 

 return to their hut till evening ; a flag hoisted on the shore indicating 

 to them its position. 



b. The chase of the white orca. — The white orca, (Delphinapterus leacas, 

 Pall.,) in Eussian " belouga," (the fishers of the Caspian Sea also call 

 the great sturgeon " belouga,"] is found nearly all the time in the White 

 Sea in large numbers, but chiefly in June and July. The young orcse 

 begin to swim in May ; their color is a bluish-gray, while that of the old 

 ones is yellowish. 



The orcse are caught in all the bays of the Polar Sea, especially on 

 the Kanine coast near Mezene ; in the White Sea ; and at the mouths 

 of the Petshora. The fishing-implements used are seines joined together 

 and fish-gigs. 



In the summer, when the weather is calm and beautiful, large flocks 

 of orcse can be seen approaching the shallow places near the shore, or 

 between the numerous islands of the White Sea. Several fishermen 

 associate for hunting orcse, each one furnishing a boat, and a large seine 

 made of cords of the thickness of a finger, the meshes being 10i inches 

 square. The length of the net is 125 " sagenes," (875 feet,) and its 

 depth C " sagenes," (42 feet.) The upper bolt-rope is furnished with 

 wooden floats 1 "arsheen" (2 feet 4 inches) long, and placed at the dis- 

 tance of 2 "arsheens" (4 feet 8 inches) from each other; the lower bolt- 

 rope has no ballast. These nets weigh about 23 " pouds," (828 pounds,) 

 and cost 150 " roubles," ($105 gold.) 



A society has usually eight boats, each being manned by four fisher- 

 men besides the master, to whom the boat and the seine belong. The 

 fishing commences at the end of Juue. The fishermen cast anchor near 

 a group of islands, and wait impatiently for the watchmen to give the 

 signal that a flock of orcse is approaching. As soon as the signal is 

 given, they row rapidly toward the place designated, taking good care, 



