360 METHOD. 



within 10 to 20 yards and shoots the seal in the side of the head as it 

 is moved from side to side by the action of the sea, and easily kills it. 

 The boat being so near the seal and head-to. and the men all ready to 

 "give way." only a few seconds of time are required to get the seal into 

 the boat, and but few are lost. But the conditions are not always so 

 favorable, The seal is a very light sleeper at best and awakes at the 

 slightest sound, and during a long-continued si >ell of fine weather it 

 becomes exceedingly wakeful, and it is with difficulty that it is ap- 

 proached near enough to kill. As a, hunter is trying to get within 

 shooting distance, if the sleeping seal shows signs of waking, he does 

 not hesitate to shoot because he may possibly miss it or because the 

 seal is so far away that if killed it may sink before the boat can reach 

 it; he gives himself the benefit of the doubt, and shoots whenever in 

 his mind there is a possibility of killing, no matter how remote the pos- 

 sibility may be. An accidental shot may kill the seal and bring to the 

 hunter $4/ "A seal has no value until he is captured" is a common 

 saying among the sealers. A miss costs the hunter nothing. 



Neither do they confine themselves to shooting at sleeping seals, but 

 shoot at everything that comes within possible range and remain above 

 water long enough for the hunter to get his gun to his shoulder. If 

 the distance is too great for the shotgun the rifle is substituted. The 

 chances of missing entirely or only wounding the seal increase with the 

 increased distance, and if killed the chances ot the seal sinking before 

 it can be reached by the boat also increase with the distance, on ac- 

 count of the greater time required to get to it. Therefore, while the 

 percentage of loss by sinking of seals shot while sleeping is compara- 

 tively small, the loss by sinking and wounding past recovery of seals 

 shot at in the water under all conditions is considerable. The estimated 

 percentage of loss of seals in this way, as shown by the average of 

 the affidavits of sealers, both white and Indian, is about 37^ per cent. 

 The actual percentage of loss by us by sinking and wounding of seals 

 shot was 40 per cent. The estimated loss, as shown by the affidavits of 

 the sealers, vary greatly, some claiming little or no loss and others ad- 

 mitting as high as 50 per cent. I account for these discrepancies by 

 supposing, first, that the percentage of loss differs with different men 

 and under different conditions. That the sealers are not close ob- 

 servers, and are only interested in those they secure, and that those 

 who claim no losses do not tell the truth. We know positively by our 

 own experience that there are losses — some seal shot by our hunters 

 sunk immediately. On the coast of Washington sealing begins in 

 March and is carried on in small schooners maimed by Indians. They 

 hunt in canoes, each canoe containing two men. They are propelled 

 by sail and paddles, and while they all carry shotguns and rifles they 

 depend almost entirely upon the spear, with which they are very ex- 

 pert. 



The schooners take from eight to fifteen canoes on deck, according to 

 the size of the vessel. They remain at sea as long as the weather re- 

 mains suitable for sealing, and cruise within a radius of 80 or 100 miles 

 of Cape Flattery. The Indians furnish canoes and outfits, spears, pad- 

 dles, guns, ammunition, and their own food, fuel, and water, and re- 

 ceive two-thirds of the catch, the vessel taking one-third and buying 

 the other two-thirds from the Indians. Some of these vessels, after 

 the close of the sealing season off Cape Flattery, fit out for Bering Sea. 

 The schooner Lotta, of about 30 tons, owned and commanded by an 

 Indian crew, has been three seasons in Bering Sea; she carried six 

 canoes, and made a good catch each time. Many of the Neah Bay In- 

 dians are in good circumstances, the result of successful seal hunting. 



