NELSON] SEAL-STALKING IVORY SCRATCHER8 129 



sometimes covered by the hunter with au arch of snow, and the seals are 

 surprised and speared as they come up. Wheu stalking these seals as 

 they lie sleeping or sunning themselves on the ice, the hunter wears a 

 pair of knee protectors made of white bear or white dog skin, which 

 reach from just above the knee to the ankle, and have the long shaggy 

 fur outward. They are secured upon the leg by strings along their 

 edges, like a legging, but they do not inclose the leg in the rear. A 

 huge mitten of the same skin, reaching from the hand to a little above 

 the elbow, is also worn on the left arm. Armed with a spear, which has 

 a long line fastened to a detachable point, the hunter approaches erect 

 as near to the seal as is prudent, then lies flat upon the ice and places 

 his bent left arm before him so that the huge fur mitten forms a shield 

 between him and the seal. The fur hood is raised over his head, so that 

 the long border of gray or whitish fnr blends with the mitten. The 

 color of the fur harmonizes so well with that of the snow that the hunter 

 can creep to within the desired distance of the seal without being 

 detected. He is always careful to keep his body flat and in a direct 

 line behind the mitten, and trails his gun or spear behind him with his 

 right hand until near enough to make sure of his aim. When stalking 

 a seal in this manner the hunter carries a small wooden scratcher, con- 

 sisting of a neatly carved handle, tipped with seal claws. If the seal 

 becomes uneasy or suspicious, the hunter pauses, and Avith this imple- 

 ment scratches the snow or ice in the same manner and with the same 

 force as a seal while digging a hole in the ice. Hearing this the seal 

 seems satisfied and drops asleep again. This is repeated, if neces- 

 sary, until the hunter is within reach of the animal, when he drives his 

 spear into it, braces himself, and holds fast to the line. If close to a 

 hole, the seal struggles into it. By holding the line the hunter pre- 

 vents its escape, and the animal soon drowns and is hauled out. Of 

 late years gnus are commonly used for this class of hunting, and the 

 seal is shot through the head, so that it remains on the ice. 



On the Diomede islands I obtained a typical pair of white bear skin 

 knee protectors, having a triangular piece of sealskin sewed on their 

 upiier edge to extend above the knee, along the leg, and provided with a 

 cord which extends thence up to the waist belt of the hunter. 



Figure 7, plate Lii, from Point Hope, is an ivory-handle scratcher 

 with a ring in the upper end; the handle is crescentic in cross section. 

 The lower end is divided into two parts, on which two claws are held 

 firmly in position by a sinew lashing. 



Figure 8, plate lit, from Point Hope, is a similar scratcher with an 

 ivory handle, and with three claws fitted on the lower end in the same 

 manner as in the preceding specimen. The upper end of the handle is 

 carved to represent the head of a seal. 



Figure 9, plate Lii, from St Michael, is a very ancient scratcher 

 obtained in the ruins of an old village. It is made of reindeer horn 

 and has tv/o x)oints forming a Y^shape end, on which the seal claws 

 18 ETH — y 



