516 FAMILY 



to large sailing vessels, anchored some i versts' from the shore, 

 on which they are heaped up, each layer being covered with 

 salt. These vessels sail with their cargo to Astrachan, while 

 the hunters return to the coast to carefully clean the battle-field. 

 They bury the bodies and entrails, at some distance, deep in 

 the ground, or throw them into the sea, far from the shore, and 

 carefully obliterate every trace of blood, so that, when another 

 herd of seals arrives, these animals do not see any marks of 

 the slaughter which has taken place ; for experience has shown 

 that they never select for their rookery a place from which 

 every trace of the slaughter has not been carefully removed. 



"Two hundred seal-hunters, employed by wealthy merchants 

 or fishermen, usually winter on the island of Koulali. Numer- 

 ous boats, besides, go there every year to participate in the 

 chase. The masters of these boats secure permits* from the 

 fishing authorities and give them to their workmen, who re- 

 ceive their wages in money. . . . 



"Another way of hunting the seals is to take them in nets. 

 Immense nets are stretched out, into which the hunters en- 

 deavor to chase them by yelling and making a noise. This way 

 of hunting is chiefly employed in the maritime district of the 

 Ural Cossacks and in the Gulf of Sineye* Mortso, from October 

 till the sea is covered with ice. The nets, called * okhani,' are 

 6 * sagenes ? (42 feet) deep, and have meshes of seven and a 

 half inches. 



"The following is the manner of proceeding : Forty boats 

 join together and elect a chief and an assistant chief. Then 

 the boats sail out to sea with a fair wind, or use their oars, go- 

 ing in a line, thus forming a sort of chain. In every boat there 

 are three nets. The chief, followed by twenty boats, is on the 

 lookout for a herd of seals, which he endeavors to cut off, while 

 his assistant remains with the other half of the fleet at some 

 distance from the shore. When the chief thinks that the time 

 for action has come, he gives the signal by throwing into the 

 sea a bale, to which a flag is fastened. At this signal the boats 

 simultaneously cast their nets, which are all tied together so as 

 to form a wall of meshes, by which the seals are soon com- 

 pletely surrounded. Then the hunters begin to yell and to 

 strike the water with their oars, in order to frighten them. 

 These seek to avoid the danger by plunging, but they rush 



* The Russian government derives an average annual income of about 

 $700 from the sale of permits for seal-hunting in the Caspian Sea. 



