My Big Bear of Shuyak 



the return of a sea otter party that had been hunt- 

 ing for two months at Cape Douglas. It was a 

 beautiful sight, this fleet of twenty odd baidarkas, 

 the paddles all rising and falling in perfect time, 

 and changing sides without a break. There is 

 nothing more graceful than one of these canoes 

 when handled by expert Aleuts. These natives 

 had already come forty miles that day, and were 

 now going to stop only long enough for tea, and 

 then push on to the little settlement of Afognak 

 Place, some twenty-five miles away, where most of 

 them lived. In one of the canoes I saw a small 

 chap of thirteen years. He was the chief's son, 

 and already an expert in hunting and in handling 

 the baidarka. So is the Aleut hunter trained. 



As it had been a very warm day I feared that 

 the skin might spoil. Therefore I concluded to 

 continue to Afognak Place without camping for 

 the night, and so we paddled on and on. As dark- 

 ness came, the mountains seemed to rise grander 

 and more majestic from the water on either side 

 of us. At midnight we again stopped for tea, and 

 while we sat by the fire the host of baidarkas of the 

 sea otter party silently glided by like shadows. We 

 joined them, for my men had much to tell of their 

 four months with the white hunter, and many ques- 

 tions were asked on both sides. 



175 



