652 



THE WORLD* 8 WONDERS. 



every action is thoroughly understood. The Hispid species is 

 most generally hunted, and it is almost the staple diet of the 

 Esquimaux. When raw it has a flabby look,.more like coagulated 

 blood than muscular fiber, but cooking imparts to it a dark soot 

 color. The meat is close-grained, but soft and tender, with a 

 slight flavor of lamp-oil, yet during spring and summer the blub- 

 ber, when fresh, is sweet and delicious. The summer season is 



SAILORS KILLING SEALS WITH CLUBS. 



also most favorable for hunting them, as the sun's glare so seri- 

 ously affects their eyes that they are rendered almost blind. At 

 such seasons they are often slaughtered with clubs, in great 

 numbers, by the sailors of whale ships. 



If an Esquimau has any reason to suppose that a seal is busy 

 gnawing beneath 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 



