46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



The whaling canoe is from thirty to thirty-five feet long; eight men in- 

 variably make the crew, each wielding a paddle five and a half feet long. 

 The whaling craft consists of harpoons, lances, lines, and sealskin buoys, all 

 of their own workmanship. 



The harpoon is much the shape of the head of the common lance used by 

 our whalers, adding two pieces of pointed bone projecting from one of the 

 edged sides of the weapon. Its length is six and a half inches and its width 

 two and a half inches. It is composed of sheet iron, bone, the fibers of cedar 

 roots, or of the wild nettle, and gum. The iron forms the principal and cut- 

 ting part, and is perforated from midway to the end that joins the line. 

 " Formerly the muscle-shell was used to make this blade." The horns of 

 bone which extend from one edged side as before mentioned, are placed one 

 on each flat side of the iron ; the rope unlaid and marled on with the pieces 

 of bone, through the boles in the sheet iron blade, and the whole covered with 

 a coating of gum. The rope, bones, and seizings, form a cavity, into which 

 the pointed end of the harpoon pole or staff is inserted. This pole— made of 

 yew — is eighteen feet long and weighs about nineteen pounds. It serves the 

 double purpose of harpoon-staff and lance-pole. 



The lance is of the same shape as the harpoon, without the barbs or horns, 

 and adding the socket, for the lance-pole. The blade is made of a muscle- 

 shell, and the socket is formed of cedar bark " woulded " or " served " with 

 fibrous roots, the whole gummed in like manner as the harpoon. Its length 

 is seven inches, and it is two and a half inches wide. 



The line is made of cedar withes, twisted into a three-strand rope five- 

 eighths of an inch in diameter, and looking very much like coir rope; the 

 usual length of the line is fifty to sixty feet for the first harpoon, but the 

 buoys attached to the harpoons subsequently thrown have only about five 

 feet of line. 



The buoys are prepared seal skins with flipper holes and mouth secured air 

 tight; one flipper hole is fitted with a nozzle, for the purpose of blowing it 

 up when required for use. These buoys are fancifully painted, according to 

 the taste of the owner of the canoe to which they may belong, care being 

 taken that each canoe's buoys are differently marked. 



Their whaling grounds are limited, as the Indian whalers rarely venture 

 seaward far out of sight of the smoke from their habitations by day, or be- 

 yond view of their bonfires at night. 



The number of canoes engaged in the chase is from two to five, each one 

 of the crew being from among the chosen men of the tribe, who can with 

 silent stroke paddle the sharp, symmetrical cauim* close to the rippling 

 water along the sides of the animal. The bowman then, with sure aim, 

 thrusts the harpoon into it, and heaves the line and buoys clear of the canoe. 

 The whale diving deeply, sometimes takes the buoys out of sight, but from 

 the long stretch of line, and the pursuit being usually near the coast, on com- 

 paratively shoal soundings, there is but little time when the inflated seal- 

 skins do not indicate the animal's whereabouts. The instant they are seen 

 by the nearest canoe a buoy is elevated on a pole, and all dash with shout 

 and t/runt toward the object of pursuit. The chase then becomes one of great 

 excitement, each boat being provided with implements alike ; in order to en- 

 title it to a full share of the prize when captured, its crew must get their 

 harpoon into the animal with the buoys attached to the line. After the 

 whale is struck, the strife that ensues to be the next to launch the prize- 

 weapon, creates a scene of brawl and agility peculiar to these piscatory ad- 

 ventures. One canoe after another approaches, and its bowman hurls his 

 missile deep into the side of the huge animal. At length the victim, becom- 

 ing weakened by loss of blood and strength, slackens its speed. The canoe 

 is then carefully paddled near, and the lance is used with unerring precision 



* Cauim is the name for canoe among these tribes. 



[April, 



