EXPEDITION TO POINT l:.\i,'l!O\V, ALASKA. '.);> 



we knew of not more (linn cloven or twelve being taken, and tliey were killed l>y Hie Kskii. 

 Our party frequently saw bear-tracks on the ice. lint nobody as iniieh as saw a living hear except 

 Lieutenant Uay, who had the good fortune to catch a glimpse of one as he mane his escape into 

 the moving ice pursued hy all the dogs and half the men and women ul the village. 



The bears .seemed generally anxious to escape when they encountered men ami dogs. Only 

 one til- two showed light or came to bay. 



Hears were wandering about the ice all the year round, as the natives occasionally reported 

 them, and twice during tlie winter of 1 SS'J-'s: !, impelled by hunger. the\ came boldly into the vil- 

 lage, once at night and once iu broad daylight, and made an attack on somebody* storehouse of 

 seal-meal. Of course the natives immediately turned out and killed the bear. 



Towards the end of April, 1883, a native who belonged at (he Point Barrow village, when 

 returning from the spring deer-hunt, met a she-bear and her cub. some 21) miles inland, at the 

 point where the Eskimo trail crosses the river Kuaru, and killed them both. We obtained their 

 .skins by purchase. 



The bears killed in winter were, beautifully clean and white, but in summer they become 

 exceedingly brown and dirty. One killed in August. 1883, was so dirty as to be almost black 

 about the legs. 



8. PHOCA VITULINA Linn. 



ILuu;oi; SKA i.. 



The Harbor Heal is well known to the Eskimos, who have several skins of this species, among 

 their "pokes" or floats for whaling. They said that they occasionally captured it at Fergnialc in 

 Elson r>ay, and down the coast at Wainwright's Inlet, where it is said to "haul out" on laud. 



This species is represented in our collection by a single skull brought in for sale by a native, 

 who did not know where it came from. 



9. PHOCA FCBTIDA Fabricius. 



RINUKD SKAI, (AY'i.i/?). 



7V y//i(i7. OLD S-IIXKIM; MAI.K ; .V '(/, CKM.M.K: .\Y///m ni. vorxc. or IIIK YKAII. 



This is the. only seal that is at all common at Point Barrow, and is the main staple of food of 

 the Eskimos. It remains the whole year through, and is to be found anywhere, in the icefield that 

 there a-re sufficient cracks for it to liud^ breathing place. 



They especially affect the ice. and consequently are rarely to be seen in summer, when the sea 

 is clear of ice. When, however, there is much loose ice running, seals are always to be fonud in 

 plenty, and are captured by the Eskimos from their iimiaka with rifle and harpoon. They occa- 

 sionally come into the shoal water of Elson May in the summer, and are taken in nets set along 

 the shore. 



When the ice comes in and the sea begins to frec/e over in October they become quite abun- 

 dant, haunting the open pools in the pack and making breathing-boles (adlu) in the "young ice." 

 At this season the natives take them entirely with the rifle and harpoon, either shooting them as 

 they swim in the open pools, and darting a harpoon into them before they sink, or else watching 

 at the breathing-hole with the rifle and stabbing harpoon. 



As the season advances into November and December and the sun disappears, so that there 

 are only a few hours of daylight, the seal-netting begins. This can only be carried on in the 

 darkest nights when there is no moon. The natives say that even a bright aurora interferes with 

 their success. 



At this season of the year there are very often large temporary cracks in the ice-field a mile or 

 two from the shore, which remain open for several days at a time, and are a great haunt of the 

 seals. When such a crack is discovered the hunters from the village turn out in force, and skirt 

 along the edge of the crack til! they find a suitable place for setting their acts. 



