BOAS.] HUNTING SEALS AND AVALRl'S. 499 



in order to exhaust the animal speedUy. * * * When the line is nearly run out the 

 end of the spear shaft is passed through a loop in the end of the line and held hrml y 

 by digging a little hole in the ice for the end of the spear to rest m, the foot resting 

 upon the Hne and against the spear to steady it. Tliis gives the hunter an immense 

 advantage over his powerful game, and if he is fortunate enough to secure this liold 

 there is no escape for the wah-us except that the line may cut on the edge of tlie sluup 

 ice, or the thin ice break off, and Inuiter, Ime, and all be precipitated into tlie water — 

 a not unusual experience in wah-us huntmg. Another cause of misfortune is for 

 the line to become entangled around the arm of the hunter so that he cannot cast it 

 off, in which case he is most assuredly drawn into the sea, and in nine cases out 

 of ten drowned, for his knife is seldom at hand for an emergency and no amount 

 of experience will ever induce &n Inung [Eskimo! to provide against danger. 



Sometimes the hunter is alone when he strikes a walrus, and in that case it requires 

 considerable dexterity to secure the spear hold in the ice ; or if he fails to get that 

 he may sit down and brace his feet against a small hummock, when it comes to 

 a sheer contest of muscle between the hunter and the walrus. In these contests 

 victory generally perches upon the banner of the walrus, though the Inung [Eskimo] 

 will never give up until the last exti-emity is reached. Often he is dragged to the 

 very edge of the ice before he finds a protuberance against which to brace his feet, 

 and often he is drawn down under the ice before he will relinquish his hold. He 

 is very tenacious under such circumstances, for he knows that when he loses the 

 wah-vis he loses his hne and harpoon also. 



Hall (I. p. 459) describes the hunt, according to his observations in 

 Frobisher Bay, as follows: 



The line is coiled, and hung about the neck of the hunter; thus prepared he 

 hides himself among the broken drifting ice, and awaits the moment for striking 

 his game. The spear is then thrown and the hunter at once slips the coil of line 

 off his head, fastens the end to the ice by driving a spear through a loop in it, and 

 waits till the walrus comes to the sm-face of the water, into which he has plunged 

 on feeling the sti-oke of the harpoon; then the animal is quickly despatched by 

 the use of a long lance. 



Sometimes the walrus when swimming under an extensive floe of 

 new ice are drowned by being frightened down every time they try 

 to come up to blow. 



Formerly whaling was one of the favorite hunts of the Central 

 Eskimo and in some places it is even continued to this day. Whales 

 are either pursued in kayaks or in skin boats. If the kayak is used, 

 they are harjiooned in the same way as the walrus, a very large float 

 {avautapaq') Ijeing attached to the harpoon head. The whale is pur- 

 sued by a great number of kayaks and every boatman endeavors to 

 drive his harpoon into the animal, which, by the loss of blood and 

 the resistance of the niutang and floats, is tired out and killed witli 

 lances. 



More frequently it is i)ursued in skin boats (p. 537), which for the 

 purpose are propelled by means of paddles (angun). In this case the 

 crew consists entirely of men, although on other occasions the rowing 

 falls to the women's share; a skillful boatman steers the boat and the 

 harpooner stands in the bow watching his opportunity to strike the 

 whale. The implement used in this pursuit is represented in Fig. 

 430. I could not procure the weapon itself (sakurpang', i. e., the 



