480 Porpoise -Shooting. 



out with their exertions, they would have sought repose ; but they 

 did not seem to need it, and the rest of the day until sundown would 

 be spent in friendly games upon the beach. 



To make a successful porpoise-hunter requires five or six years 

 of constant practice. Boys, ten or twelve years of age, are taken 

 out in the canoes by the men, and thus early trained in the 

 pursuit of that which is to form their main support in after years. 

 Porpoise-shooting is followed at all seasons and in all kinds of 

 weather — in the summer sea, in the boisterous autumn gales, and 

 in the dreadful icy seas of midwinter. In a calm summer day, the 

 porpoise can be heard blowing for a long distance. The Indians, 

 guided by the sound long before they can see the game, paddle 

 rapidly in the direction from which the sound comes, and rarely fail 

 to secure the fish. They use long smooth-bored guns, loaded with 

 a handful of powder, and a heavy charge of double B shot. As 

 soon as the porpoise is shot, they paddle rapidly up to him and kill 

 him with a spear, to prevent his flopping about, and upsetting the 

 canoe after they have taken him aboard. The manner of taking 

 the porpoise aboard is to insert two fingers of the right hand into 

 the blow-hole, take hold of the pectoral fin with the left hand, and 

 lift the fish up until at least one-half of his length is above the 

 gunwale of the canoe, and then drag him aboard. 



This is comparatively easy to accomplish in smooth water, but 

 when the feat is performed in a heavy sea, one can realize the skill 

 and daring required. In rough weather, with a high sea running, 

 the Indian is compelled to stand up in his canoe when he fires, 

 otherwise he could not see his game. In such work as this, one 

 would suppose that upsets would be unavoidable ; but, strange to 

 say, they seldom happen, — and only under circumstances where 

 the Indian's skill or foresight is unavailing. When an Indian 

 stands up in his canoe, in rough water, he suits himself to every 

 motion of his frail craft, and is ever ready to sway his body and 

 keep her on an even keel. In this he is ably seconded by his com- 

 rade who manages the paddle, and with marvelous dexterity urges the 

 canoe forward, checks her, backs her, whirls her completely around, 

 or holds her steady as a rock, as the emergency may require. 



Although an old and experienced canoeist, in the matter of shoot- 

 ing porpoises from a canoe in a heavy sea, and taking them aboard, 



