MUKDnrH.l WHALING. 27.'i 



family, as tli.- cirws do not enter on their dm ies till , he wlialinuael iially 

 <-()mmeiii'('s. The crews are re.uidaih m^aiiized I'ov the seasmi and are 

 made up duriiif;- the wintei- and <'arly sprim;. 'riie\ cimsisi df ei'dil <ir 

 ten persons to eaeli Imat. ineliidiui;- Ihe eaplain. w ho is al\\a\s the 

 owner of the ])oat. and sits in tlie stern and sleeis, nsiiiy a lar^ci- pad 

 die tlian the rest, and the hari».onei-. who oreupies Ihe how.' ~\\heii a 

 bombgiiii is carried it is iidinsted to a IIhkI man. who sits in Ihe 



waist of the boat, and whose dniy it is to si I the wiude whenevei- lie 



sees a favorable opportninty. whether it lias been harpooned or not. 

 The rest are simply jiaddlers. 



When used for whalinj;, the umiak is propelled by paddles aloiu', 

 sails and oars never beiui;- even taken on boaid. Men are prel'erred Cor 

 the whaling- crews when enonuii can lie seenied. otherwise (he \aeancies 

 are filled by women, who inai;e ettieieiil jiaddlei s. Some ninialiks hire 



eles. and jn-ovidin.i; them with food dnriiii; the season. Others ship 

 men on shares. We diil not h-arn tlie exact proportions of I liese shares 

 in any ease. They apjiear to concern the whalcbon.' alone, as all seiaii 

 to be entitlc.l to as much ol' the tiesh ami bliilibcr as they <-aii cut otf 

 in the --encral scramble. .\t this season cxplorin.u- parties are out every 

 <lay examining- the state of the ice to ascertain when the jiack is likely 

 to break away from the landlloe. and also to lind the liest path lor the 

 umiaks through the hnminocks. 



.In 1882 the c lition of the ice was such that the boats conld lie 



taken out directly from I'tkiavwln.by a somewhat winding path, to Ihe 

 edge of the land doe about five or six miles from the shore. This path 



was marked out by the seal-hunters during the winter, and soi I the 



natixes spent their leisui-e time widening and iiii|iro\ ing it. knocking 

 off proiecting points of ice witli picks and wiial.' sjiades. and tilling up 



the worst of Ihe i lualilies. :\Iiic!i of the patii. however, was exceed- 



inglv rough and dillicult when it was considered tinished. In iss;! 

 the land tio<- was so i-oiigli and wide abivast of the village that no 

 liracticable path conld be made, so all the whalemen with their families 

 moved np to Inie'kphfi and .■ncamped in tents as already described 

 (seep. SI) for the season, from this point a tolerably straight and 

 easy path was mad.' out to the edge of the land Hoe. The natives in- 

 formed me as early as April 1 that it would be necessary for fliem to 

 move up to lnie'ki.ii|-i, adding that tli.' ic.' alireast of the village was 

 very heav\- and would mo\-e onl\ when warm weathei came. This pre- 

 diction was correct, as Ihe season of ISS.', was .so late that no ships 

 reached the station until .\tignst I. 



About the ]iii<ldle of .\pril the natives begin anxiously to exjiect an 

 east or southeast wind (nigy,.) to drive ofl' the \);n-k ami open the leads, 

 ami should it m>t sjieedily blow from that (piarfer recourse is had to 

 su])ernatural iiu'ans to liring it. A ]iarty of men go out and sit in a 

 semicircle facing Ihe sea on the \ illage cliff, while one man in tin mid- 



