140 SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



flag set, iiidicatiug that she was homeward bound. The sight of this 

 vessel put the Indians in high gh^e, for the season was now getting late 

 and they were anxious to go home. 



On iSe|»teinber 17 the weather was a repetition of that of the previous 

 day. In tlie early part of the day we saw 9 seals circling around in 

 various directions and occasionally rolling aud tinning. Observing 

 this number of seals from the vessel with a choppy sea running was a 

 good indication tlutt under better conditions they would be found plen- 

 tiful. At noon the weather showed signs of moderating, but the Indians 

 could not be induced to venture out on account of a lew squally looking 

 clouds low on the horizon. At 2 p. m. two white hunters started out, 

 but after a two hours' hunt they returned empty-handed. Only -4 seals 

 had been seen, 3 tinning and 1 asleep. At the time the boat left the 

 vessel the water was comparatively clear, but about 3 miles to the 

 northwest it came into very much discolored water, in which birds were 

 plentiful and a few fish were seen jumping. 



Early in the following morning, September 18, the canoes were low- 

 ered, the wind being light from the southeast and the sea smooth. The 

 bai'ometer indicated no change, but in a short time the wind began to 

 increase. No seals were observed either by the small boats or from the 

 vessel during the day. 



On September 19 the weather was similar to that of the previous 

 day. Four seals were seen, U asleep, the others traveling to the 

 north-northeast. The former did not awake until the swash of the 

 "Water from our bow struck them. In the evening we headed for Unim.ak 

 Pass. As tiie season was now late it was thought inadvisable to remain 

 longer in the sea. The condition for the last ten days had convinced 

 the captain that little, if any, mcne sealing weather could be exi)ected. 



The next morning we sighted the schooner *SVn Jose, which had nmde 

 a catch of 000 skins. Her (;aptain came on board and reported that 

 until recently he had been hunting northwest of the Pribilof Islands. 

 In that region seals were abundant, but the weather had been too stormy 

 to operate. On September 13, in latitude 58° 30' north, hmgitude 172° 

 30' s\'est, several hundred seals had been observed, but the sea was 

 too rough for loweiing the boats. In the latter part of August the 

 San Jo.se had hunted near Unimak Pass, but few seals were found there. 



At 10 a. ni., the wind being light, 8 of the canoes were put over, but 

 at 2 p. m. a dense fog settled down. Ten seals were secured, 4 males 

 and C females. They were all small, and their stomachs were empty. 

 On this ground birds were plentiful and one orca was observed. At 

 2.45 p. m. we continued on our course, and at 6 p. m. Cape Cheerful 

 bore abeam about 15 miles. The next day we were off the northern 

 entrance of Unimak Pass, four other sealers being in sight. In the 

 evening we cleared the southern entrance of the Pass and shaped a 

 course for Cape Flattery. On the morning of October 8 we anchored 

 off Ucleuet, an Indian village situated on the north side of Barclay 

 Sound, Vancouver Island, where most of our Indians belonged. We 

 reached Victoria on October 8, having been twenty days on the passage 

 home. 



OBSERVING SEALS. 



In sealing weather hunters do not wait until seals have been seen from 

 the vessel before lowering the boats. They start out as early as possi- 

 ble and search for them, as otherwise the catch of the entire fleet would 

 be sunill. A^ery often when no seals are observed from the vessel's deck 

 the boats will be among bunches of them, only a mile or two away, and, 

 on the other hand, it sometimes happens that when scattered seals are 



