166 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ErH. ANN. 18 
a bomb gun which they had obtained from some whaler. While on a 
summer cruise on a whaling ship some of the men had learned the use 
of this gun and they took the earliest opportunity to obtain one; inthe 
fall it was planted on the ice near the entrance to the bay, and as the 
whales swam slowly along the narrow lead that remained open in 
midchannel the bomb lances were fired into them without any lines 
attached. This was always done while the whales were heading up the 
bay, so that they might swim as far as possible toward the head of the 
bay and die under the ice; a few days later the gases would inflate 
their bodies to such an extent that the carcasses would burst through 
the ice and indicate their position to the people, who would at once cut 
them up, using the blubber for food and keeping the whalebone to be 
traded to the whalers in the spring. The people at Point Barrow have 
also used a whaling gun for some time. 
The walrus is found on many parts of the coast, but is rarely seen 
near St Michael; about Nunivak island and the coast of the adjacent 
mainland it is caught during fall and spring. Near the mouth of the 
Kuskokwim the hunters endeavor to surprise herds of walrus in the 
shallow bays along the coast. When they succeed, they form a line of 
kaiaks between the animals and the sea, and by shouting and striking 
the sides of the kaiaks with their paddles, so alarm them that they are 
driven ashore, where they are easily killed. In the fall of 1879 thirty 
of these animals were captured by a drive of this kind just south of 
Cape Vancouver. This method, however, can be employed only where 
the water is very shallow, so that the walrus can not escape by diving 
and passing beneath the kaiaks. 
Although spears and lances are still used in walrus hunting, as fire- 
arms become more plentiful among the natives many of these ani- 
mals are shot with rifles, which are used in addition to the old-style 
weapons for killing the beluga or white whale. This animal is some- 
times stranded at low water and is then easily killed. These whales 
are treated with great respect by the Eskimo, and when one is taken 
certain ceremonies must be observed to avoid offending it. At St 
Michael I saw the hunters haul a recently killed beluga ashore, and 
before it was completely dragged out of the water one of them poured 
some urine in its mouth and then addressed several sentences to its 
shade in propitiation for having killed it. At Point Hope one was 
killed during the visit of the revenue cutter Corwin to that place in 
the summer of 1881, and while it was being drawn ashore the people 
gathered on the beach and sang a song of welcome such as is used in 
the kashim during certain dances. 
HUNTING BAGS AND HELMETS 
Hunting bags are made in various forms and are worn by a strap 
over the shoulders; in them the hunters carry their powder, bullets, 
cap boxes, and other small articles needed in the chase. Bags of this 
kind made from the skins of wolves’ heads are highly prized. 
