HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 59 



caught as many as six at one time in one of these small nets, 

 and frequently get three. They also watch for surf-holes, 

 or caves in the bluffs, and when one is found to which a sea 

 otter is in the habit of resorting, they set this net by 

 spreading it over the entrance, and usually capture the 

 animal. 



" No injury whatever is done to these frail nets by the 

 sea otters, strong animals as they are ; only stray sea lions 

 destroy them. The Atka people have never been known 

 to hunt sea otters without nets, while the people of 

 Ounalashka and the east have never been known to use 

 them. The salt water and kelp seem to act as a dis- 

 infectant to the net, so that the smell of it does not alarm 

 or repel the shy animal." 



