300 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



Very thin liglit paddles were used, and if the Indian could get near 

 enough the sleeping animal was harpooned. The common custom was, 

 however, to hunt in parties. An otter being sighted was surrounded by 

 canoes in a very large but gradually lessening circle, advantage being 

 taken of the necessity of the animal to come to the surface to breathe, 

 when it would be shot with arrows or harpooned from the nearest 

 canoe. The Tlingit and Haida were not so expert as the Aleut, because 

 their canoes were not so well adapted to the exposure at sea. In recent 

 years the few remaining sea-otters have been hunted with fire-arms. 

 The Indians are poor marksmen, and under the excitement of firing the 

 instant the otter rises many accidents to their own number have hap- 

 pened, particularly to those on opposite sides of the circle. By a curious 

 rule the otter, and all other game, belougs to the one who first wounds 

 it, no matter who kills it. As the otter floats when killed, the same 

 skill is not required as in seal hunting, but so scarce have they become 

 now, that not more than forty or fifty are killed in a season throughout 

 the northern coast Indian region. 



Seals. — Seals are hunted in practically the same way as just de- 

 scribed, but from the fact that on account of their bodies not floating 

 it is necessary to harpoon them before they sink, the percentage of loss 

 is very large, although they are more abundant than the otter. The 

 Indians rely to a great extent on shooting them in very shallow water 

 or on rocky ledges near shore. 



On shore the Indians are very poor still-hunters, and luck and abun- 

 dance of game are large elements in their success. Fur-bearing animals, 

 such as bear, lynx, land otter, beaver, etc., are generally trapped, al- 

 though shot whenever chance offers. Breech-loading arms are not 



allowed to be sold to the Indians. With 

 the use of muzzle loaders we find such 

 necessaries in the outfit of a hunter as 

 Figs. 140a and 140&, which are powder- 

 chargers of bone, and Fig. 140c, which is 

 a percussion-cap box made from the horn 

 of a mountain goat. 



Deer. — Deer are very abundant, and 

 form a large item in the food supply of 

 the region. They are hunted in the 

 rutting season with a call, which lures 

 them to the ambushed hunter, when 

 they are readily shot. So effecti ve is this 

 call, that it is not unusual to be able to 

 get a second shot at them in case of first 

 Stili hunting is very little resorted to, and an Indian seldom 

 risks wasting a charge until he is somewhat sure of his distance and 

 chances. They are often captured swimming, and in winter recklessly 



Fig. UOabo. 

 Powder Horn and Chargers, 



(Tlingit. Emmons Collection. ) 



failure 



