PERCENTAGE LOST OF SEALS STRUCK. 395 



I always use the shotgun for taking seal. Some- Jim Kasooh, p. 296. 

 times I lose two and three out of ten that I shoot. 



Fully one-half the seal shot with shotguns are lost, and amuchlarger 

 proportion when the rifle is used. None were 

 lost when struck with a spear. MikeE e thu8duck,p.262. 



On an average we got one or two out of every Jas. Kennedy, p. 449. 

 six or seven that we wounded or killed. 



The white men lose a great many by shooting. The Indians lose 

 fewer in their method by spearing. He thinks 

 white men loose three out of five, on an average. Exekiana, p. 306. 



Constant shooting has frightened them and made them wild, so that 

 they have to be shot at great distances unless 

 found asleep. Much depends for successful hunt- j a s. Ei&rnan, 450. 

 ing upon the weather, as it is difficult to get ac- 

 curate aim when both the hunter's boat and the seal are in motion. 

 A poor hunter does not secure more than one out of every five shot or 

 aimed at. Good hunters do better. 



The first seal sighted was August 4, longitude 136°32' west, latitude 

 52° 46' north. 



During the days following August 4 the canoes were lowered, but 

 their search for seals was fruitless. On August „ . 

 14, before entering Bering Sea, a seal was speared i^" c>s L ' Km 9- HaU > 

 by the Indians off Marmont Island, which was 



bearing NW, ^ W. 35 miles. We entered the sea at G :30 p. m. on the 22d 

 day of July [August] and at 9 o'clock the following morning we got our 

 first seal in the Bering. It was shot by one of the white men in a boat. 

 We were at this time about 25 miles west by north of Northwest Cape 

 on Unimak Pass. On the same day 4 other seals were shot, and 3 not 

 recovered. Two sank and the other escaped badly wounded. The fol- 

 lowing day the captain shot 2, losing 1, and the other boat brought 1 seal 

 on board. On the 25th of August we were 125 miles southeast of St. 

 George Island. The Indian hunters were out all day and brought in 

 3 seals, the white hunters getting none. The captain informed me that 

 day that the previous year he had taken in this locality 148 seals in 

 one day, and that one of his hunters got 38 and lost 40, which he shot. 

 The next day the two boats and canoes were out, and the captain 

 brought back 1, but had shot and lost 6 others, 1 of which sank. 

 The other boat reported that they shot 7, but all sank before they 

 could get them, the water being so colored with blood that it was im- 

 possible to see the bodies sufficiently to recover them with the gaff. 

 The two Indians brought back 10 seals, all speared. Out of tiie num- 

 ber taken on board 4 were full of milk. On the 27th the Indians 

 brought in 2 seals and the captain 1, which were all they had seen. On 

 the 29th 17 seals were taken; the captain got 3, having lost 4, killed 

 or wounded. The other boat brought in 3, having lost 2, and the cook 

 shot one from the schooner's deck. Out of these, 7 were females, which 

 covered the decks with milk while they were being skinned. * * * 



I am convinced that at the very least white hunters lose 50 per cent 

 of the seals they hit, and probably the majority of those wounded will 

 ultimately die. 



