DOMESTICATED REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 101 



Many of the implements used by the Eskimo in hunting and trap- 

 ping - display a good deal of ingenuity, and show that they have studied 

 the habits of the wild animals very closely. If they do not succeed in get- 

 ting much game it is not because their implements are not adapted to 

 the purpose intended, but on account of the scarcity of the animals. 



The improved firearms of civilization are now needed, because the 

 game is scarce and has become so wary that with the old style of imple- 

 ments they can not get near enough to kill them. Yet some of them 

 are still used by the natives who do not possess guns, and especially is 

 this true of the harpoon in hunting seal, walrus, and whale- 

 To one not acquainted with the manner in which these people hunt 

 seal, it would be interesting to watch one, but in doing so his patience 

 would be very likely to give out before he has seen the seal caught, 

 even if he has mustered up courage sufficient to follow the native over 

 the broken fragments of ice which must be crossed in order to reach 

 the open water where the seal is found. 



When one is seen, the native cautiously crawls toward it, until he 

 gets as near as he can on the ice. He then crouches down, and with a 

 stick, on the end of which is fastened the claws of an eagle, he scratches 

 the ice. A noise is made with this that resembles the cry of the seal, 

 and seeing the native it thinks it is one of its own species, and quickly 

 swims toward him, and when it comes within a few feet of the native 

 he throws the harpoon at it. If the point strikes the seal, which it is 

 pr itty sure to do, as natives seldom make an attack until they are near 

 enough to the seal to be sure of striking it, it quickly succumbs and is 

 hauled out on the ice. 



A full-grown seal of the species usually found here will weigh proba- 

 bly 300 pounds, and when caught a piece of seal thong is drawn over 

 the nose, and with the line over his shoulders the native drags the seal 

 sometimes 3 and 4 miles over the rough ice before he reaches shore, 

 and if a dog sled does not happen to be near at hand, he continues his 

 tiresome tramp with his heavy load until the village is reached. 



Among the different varieties of seals caught, the oogasrook is con- 

 siderably the largest, and will weigh probably 500 or 600 pounds. The 

 skin of this variety is mostly used for covering the boats of the Eskimo, 

 but that of the walrus is generally preferred, as it is larger and heavier. 

 When the walrus skin is used for this purpose, however, it is split in 

 two, on account of being too thick to work up well. 



The oogsrook skin is also used for boot-soles, being the only variety 

 heavy enough for that purpose. 



The hunting of the walrus is fast becoming a matter in which the 

 natives have little expectation of meeting with much success, as they 

 are rarely seen in large numbers, and as seldom caught. 



A canoe crew that in a cruise of one or two weeks secures one of 

 these animals is considered to have been very lucky, when a few years 

 ago they slaughtered them in great numbers. Like the seal, they are 



