228 SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



being washed down by a bottle of excellent port, 

 when the chief hunter of the tribe (who was named 

 Tucurora) asked permission to be allowed to hold 

 some conversation with the whites. Of course, he 

 came close upon the heels of his message, and after 

 he had squatted down upon a rein-deer's skin, and 

 lighted his pipe at the hearth, he began a series of 

 questions which were faithfully translated to us by 

 our friend Maroah. The upshot of the talk (thus 

 translated by an Esquimaux dragoman) was, that we 

 were to go and hunt for sea-lions on the following 

 day, and that the creatures were to be found in great 

 abundance on the little islets on the eastern coast 

 below St. John's. The greater part of these islets 

 were of so slight elevation that sometimes, when the 

 sea was tempestuous, they would be entirely sub- 

 merged. It was to these islets, nevertheless, that 

 the fishermen resorted to lie in wait for the herds of 

 sea-lions that came from the depths of the ocean to 

 repose upon their shores. 



Usually, the Esquimaux fishermen endeavoured to 

 get to windward of the herd, so that the creatures, 

 whose sense of smell is very delicate, should not 

 suspect their approach. They took great care, 

 moreover, to speak very low, and not to make the 

 slightest noise. Sometimes it happened that whole 

 weeks would be consumed in efi'ecting an approach, 

 but in the end a whole island would be covered with 

 seals, each line as it emerged from the ocean driving 



