C. L. HOOPER, CAPTAIN, U. S. R. M. 501 



and ffll count. Upon leaving tlie vessel tlie boats always work to ivind- 

 Avard, as sleeping seals can only be approached from the leeward side. 

 If uudcv sail and a sleeper is seen sail is immediately taken in and the 

 sculls used. The vessel follows the boats under short sail, and endeav- 

 ors to keep them in sight, or at least know in what direction they are. 

 In this tliey are not always successful, as the boats sometimes get 

 separated from the vessel and are picked up by otlier vessels after several 

 days' possessive exposure, and cases are not wanting of boats having been 

 lost entirely. Sealing boats seldom leave the vessel without a sup])ly 

 of food and water sufUcient for a day or two. They are also fitted with 

 a compass. Traveling or playing seals are shot at and occasionally 

 secured, but a large majority of seals taken are killed . ^ 



while asleep. Seals sleep in the daytime and in good ^^ ^ ^ eepmg. 

 weather only. The time of day they go to sleep depends upon the state 

 of the weather and condition of the sea then and in the immediate 

 past. If they have been kept awake by bad weather they go to sleep 

 earlier than they do in a long spell of good weather. Generally on a 

 moderate day they are found sleeping if found at all from 9 to 11 o'clock 

 in the forenoon, and until 5 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and some- 

 times later. After they are awake if the weather is x>artlcularly fine, 

 they remain rolling and playing on the water, and are not difficulfc 

 to kill if approached very cautiously. But they are exceedingly wary, 

 either sleeping or v/aking, and great skill and caution is required to 

 secure them. 



The seal lies upon his back while sleeping, with his nose out of water, 

 his flippers folded or s'ightly raised, and his head to leeward; his mus- 

 cles are ai)paiently relaxed, and his head swings from side to side with 

 each undulation of the waves. Whether he keeps his head to leeward 

 of his body from choice, or his head being the only part exposed he as- 

 sumes that i^osition in obedience to the action of the wind, I am unable 

 to state. I am assured by all hunters that such is the fact, and tliat when 

 sleeping during light baffling airs the seal changes his position with 

 each change of the wind, no matter how slight, and without showing 

 any signs of conscious action. As stated, the boat ap- 

 proaches the seal from the leeward side, rowing up to seafr^'*"^ "^ taking 

 him as silently as possible. With a light breeze blow- 

 ing, the seal sleeping soundly, and all the conditions favorable, the 

 hunter can select his own distance. He approaches 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, 

 aud but few are lost. But the conditions are not always so favorable. 

 The seal is a very ligiit sleeper at best and awakes at the slightest sound, 

 and during a long-continued spell of fine weather, itbecomes exceedingly 

 wakeful, and it is with difficulty that it is approached near enough to 

 kill. As a hunter is trying to get within shooting distance, if the sleep- 

 ing 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 possibility 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 nothina'. 



