SEAL FISHERIES 731 



At the signal the men in the bow open fire, aiming to hit the beasts in the neck 

 just below the back of the head. When the shooting starts, the walrus charge into 

 the sea and soon the ice is clear of all except the dead ones. As soon as the shoot- 

 ing is over the natives paddle for the ice and haul the oomiak out. One man then 

 runs over to the walrus with a rifle and shoots those still alive to keep them from 

 moving and slipping off the ice. 



The walrus that have escaped into the water come charging around the ice, 

 roaring and splashing. The natives wave their hands at them to scare them away. 

 If females or young have been killed, the herd will return to the vicinity of the 

 kill and the natives have a busy time keeping them from wrecking the boats. 



The next operation is to cut them up and load the meat and blubber into the 

 boats. The animals are cut open with axes and knives, and the skeleton is cut out 

 of the carcass. These bones are thrown into the water. The meat and blubber that 

 is left is cut into squares and loaded into the boats. Occasionally one is skinned 

 when skins are desired to make rope, boats, or houses. The skins used for boat 

 covers are split by the women. The tusks and flippers are also saved, and the 

 intestines are sometimes used to make windows for the houses, floats, and cloth- 

 ing. From four to 5 walrus can be loaded into the average oomiak boats, accord- 

 ing to the distance they have to be towed and the weather conditions. 



At King Island the natives hunt walrus by getting on the ice floes and ap- 

 proaching them on foot. To kill walrus in the water the natives wound them 

 by shooting them in the back to prevent sinking, and then harpoon them before 

 shooting to kill. 



It is reported that the Eskimos at Indian Point, Siberia kill walrus by going 

 among the herds on the beach or on the ice and lancing them with spears or 

 knives. They do not allow the use of rifles because they claim that this would 

 drive the animals from that vicinity and they would not come ashore. It seems 

 that shooting alarms the animals, but they take very little notice when some of 

 their numbers are quietly killed nearby. 



When the shooting method is used in hunting walrus, a few of the animals 

 are wounded, get into the water and are lost, but the natives make every eflFort 

 to harpoon them. The ones that sink often drift ashore later on and are used by 

 the natives for dog feed and trap bait. 



REFERENCES 



Allen, G. M., "Extinct and Vanishing Animals of the Western Hemisphere with the 

 Marine Species of all the Oceans," Amer. Comm. for International Wild Life Protec- 

 tion, Spec. Pub., No. 11 (1942). 



Anderson, R. M., "Mammals of the Eastern Arctic and Hudson Bay, Canada's Eastern 

 Arctic," Dept. Interior, Ottawa, J. O. Patenaude, 67-108 (1934). 



Anderson, R. M., "Mammals and Birds of the Western Arctic District, Northwest Ter- 

 ritories, Canada's Western Northland," Dept. Mines and Resources, Ottawa, J. O. 

 Patenaude, 97-122 (1937). 



Anon., "Newfoundland's Seal Fishery— Will It Recover?," U. S. Consular Kept. 7 St. 

 John's (1946). 



Anthony, N. E., "To the Arctic for Walrus," Natural History, 29, 50-64 ( 1929). 



Barabash, N. D., "Pinnipeds of the Commander Islands," Trans. Inst. Fish, and Oceanog. 

 (U.S.S.R.), 3, 223-237 (1936). 



