34 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



most of the tribes. The very fragmentary record kept of the skins 

 sold to white traders shows that in 1889, 3,500 skins, valued at $7,000, 

 in 1890, 3,444, valued at $6,888, and in 1905, 9,098 skins, valued at 

 $5,554, were so disposed of. These meager figures are probably too 

 low. 



The species taken are the bearded seal ( Erignathus barbatus) ; the 

 ribbon seal (Phoca fasciata) , a rare species; the ringed seal (Phoca 

 fcetida), the most common; the harp seal (Phoca grcenlandica) , quite 

 rare; and the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), which is quite common 

 and the most widely distributed. 



When the ice leaves the coast the natives hunt the seals in kyacks, 

 using a light spear or a rifle. At this season many of the ringed seal 

 are found upon the ice packs well offshore and are taken by the Eskimo 

 in a curious manner. The latter wear a shirt made of white sheeting, 

 and, paddling cautiously up to a piece of ice on which the seals are 

 gathered, are enabled by means of the disguise to land and get among 

 the seals without alarming them, and sometimes kill quite a number 

 with a club before the herd takes flight. When the cold storms of 

 September set in the seals return along shore again and seek refuge in 

 the inner bays and sheltered coves. At this season the natives set 

 many rawhide nets with large meshes off the rocky points, and large 

 numbers are taken thus. Later, when the sea is frozen over, nets 

 are set about the holes which the seals make in order to be able to 

 come to the surface to breathe. Many of the seals also are killed at 

 these holes by the hunters armed with spears. 



Steller's sea lion. — This animal, which at one time was extremely 

 abundant on the Pribilof Islands and along the Aleutian chain, is now 

 almost extinct. A few still haul up on the former islands, but they 

 are becoming less and less each year, a fact which means a serious loss 

 to the natives, as they made more use of this animal than of any other 

 they hunted. Its skin, flesh, intestines, bones, sinews, and oil all came 

 into play as food or in the primitive manufactures. The skins were 

 considered an indispensable covering for the umiak, or large canoe, 

 used in hunting, and after the animal became practically extinct on 

 the Aleutian chain the traders imported such skins from the coast of 

 Lower California and Mexico for the use of their hunters. The sea 

 lion never became other than a subject of intertribal barter. 



Walrus. — This enormous mammal, which is not found south of the 

 Bering Sea shore of the Aleutian chain, was at one time very numer- 

 ous north of there, and the hunting of it and the seal formed the prin- 

 cipal occupation of the Eskimos during the summer. It goes north as 

 the ice breaks up in spring and returns again in the fall, stopping but 

 a short time at any spot, and keeping close to the ice pack all this 

 time. When in the water it is hunted by the Eskimos in kyacks, with 



