296 THE POLAR WORLD. 



blood as to be obliged to rise more and more ofteu to the surface, and is finally 

 killed and towed ashore. 



Though in many parts seals are caught at every season of the year, yet the 

 great hunt takes place in spring, when they play in the open lanes near the 

 coasts, or come out on the ice to bask in the sun. In spite of their wariness, 

 they are no match for the Esquimaux, who have carefully studied all their 

 habits from infancy. Sometimes the hunter approaches them by imitating 

 their forms and motions so perfectly that the poor animals are not undeceived 

 until one of them is struck with his lance; or else, by means of a white screen 

 pushed forward on a sledge, the hunter comes Avithin range and picks out the 

 best-conditioned of the band. As the season draws near midsummer, the seals 

 are more approachable ; their eyes being so congested by the glare of the sun 

 that they are sometimes nearly bliud. In winter they are assaulted while 

 w^orking at their breathing-holes or when coming up for respiration. 



If an Esquimaux has any reason to suppose that a seal is busy gnawing be- 

 neath the ice, he immediately attaches himself to the place, and seldom leaves 

 it, even in the severest frost, till he has succeeded in killing the animal. For 

 this purpose he first builds a snow^-wall about four feet in height, to shelter him 

 from the wind, and seating himself under the lee of it, deposits his spears, lines, 

 and other implements upon several little forked sticks inserted into the snow, 

 in order to prevent the smallest noise being made in moving them when want- 

 ed. But the most curious precaution consists in tying his OAvn knees together 

 with a thong so securely as to prevent any rustling of his clothes, which might 

 otherwise alarm the animal. In this situation a man will sit quietly sometimes 

 for hours together, attentively listening to any noise made by the seal, and 

 sometimes using the " keep-kuttuk " in order to ascertain whether the animal 

 is still at work below. This simple little instrument — which affords another 

 striking proof of Esquimaux ingenuity — is merely a slender rod of bone (as 

 delicate as a fine wire, that the seal may not see it), nicely rounded, and having 

 a point at one end and a knob at the other. It is inserted into the ice, and 

 the knob remaining above the sui-face, informs the fisherman by its motion 

 whether the seal is employed in making his hole; if not, it remains undis- 

 turbed, and the attempt is given up in that place. When the hunter supposes 

 the hole to be nearly completed, he cautiously lifts his spear (to which the line 

 has been previously attached), and as soon as the blowing of the seal is distinctly 

 heard— and the ice consequently very thin — he drives it into him with the force of 

 both arms, and then cuts away with his " panna," or well-sharpened knife, the 

 remaining crust of ice, to enable him to repeat the wounds and get him out. 

 The " neituk " {Phoca hisjnda), being the smallest seal, is held, Avhile struggling, 

 either simply by hand, or by putting the line i-ound a spear with the point stucTi 

 into the ice. For the " oguke" {Phoca bcu-hata), the line is passed round the 

 man's leg or arm ; and for a walrus, round his body, his feet being at the same 

 time firmly set against a hummock of ice, in which position these people can, 

 from habit, hold against a very heavy strain. A boy of fifteen is equal to the 

 killing of a " neituk," but it requires a full-grown person to master either of the 

 larger animals. This sport is not without the danger which adds to the ex- 



