.>-^0 Tin; POINT BAKKUW KSKl.Mo. 



the netting;-, which is tiu- imhs, i,u,,..,tanl lislici y of the year, but which 

 can be prosecuted with su.ress only in the .h.rkest nights. The natives 

 say tliat even a l>rij;hl aurora interferes with tlie nettinj;. .Vt this sea- 

 siin narrow h'adsot ojieii water are olteii fornie.l paraUel to the shore, and 

 freiiui'iilly reiiiaiii open lor several days, 'fhe natives are coustautly 

 reeonnoiterinj;' tlie ice in se;ir<-li of siicii leads, and when one is fouud 



nearly all the men in ilie \ illa-e ii it I" it with their nets. A [dace 



is sonylil where the ice is tolerably level ami not too thick for about a 

 hundred yards back from I he lead, at wliirli distance the nets are set, 

 often a naiuber of tliem (dose toi;cther. in lliemanin'r abeady described, 

 so that they hang like, curtains under the ice, parallel to the edge of the 

 open water. When darkness comes on the hunters begiu to rattle on 

 the i<-e with theu- ice picks, scratch with the seal call, or make some 

 other gentle and continuous uoise. wlii(di soon 

 the seals that are s\vimiuiug about in the i>[H 

 dives under the ice and swims in th.' direction 

 course leads him directly into the net, wlnre li. 



On favorable nights a. great many seals ai^ 

 For instance, on the night of December 2, Issl', i 

 win alone took at least one hundred seals. Such lucky hauls are not 



(.,,11111 , however. As the weather at this season is often excessively 



cold, the seals freeze stiff soon after they are taken from the net, and if 

 siinicient snow has fallen they are stacked up by sticking their hind 

 tlii)pers in the snow. This keeps them from being covered up and lost 

 if the snow begins to diift. I have counted thirty seals, the property 

 of one native, piled up in this way into a. single stack. The women and 

 children go out at their couveuienct^ with dog sleds and bring in the 

 seals. .V womau, however, who is at work on deerskin ch)thiug must 

 not toiu'h a hand to the seals or the sled on which they are loaded, but 

 uia\ lend a hand at hauling on the di'ag hue. When the seals are 

 brought to the edge of the beach they must not be taken on land till 

 each has been given a mouthful of ti-esh water. We did not learn the 

 object of this practice, but N'ordenskiiihl. who observed n similar custom 

 at I'itlekaj. was informed that it was to keep the leads from closing.' 



When tlie lead l^i^eps open for several days, or there is a prospect of 

 its opeuing again, the liiintei leaves his gear out on the ice, sometimes 

 bringing his iec [lick. scoop, and setting pole part way home and sticking 

 them 111) in the snow alongside of the path. In»1884 a lead remained 

 oiieii for se\eral days about 3 or 4 miles from the village, and the 

 nati\es made a regular beaten trail out to it. When we visited the net- 

 ting ground the lead had closed, but nearly all the men had left their 

 gear .sticking uii near it. with the nets tied u]) and hung upon the ice 

 picks. They had built little w alls of snow slabs as a protection against 

 the wind. The season for iliis netting ends with the January gales, 

 whicii close the leads permanently. 



