HUNTING THE SEA OTTER 



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bubbles they constantly notice in which direction the animal 

 goes, and the steersman steers the boat thither; the man in the 

 bow, however, with a pole to which there are fastened small 

 crosspieces like a brush, fishes up the arrows from the water as 

 they appear. If the animal has a young one with it, this first 

 loses its breath and drowns, as the mother, in order to be able 

 more easily to save herself, throws it from her. The young one 

 is picked up, and generally it revives in the haidar. Finally the 

 mother or the male animal also becomes so breathless and ex- 

 hausted that it cannot stay under water for a minute. Then 

 they dispatch it either with an arrow or often, when near by, 

 with the lance. 



When sea otters get into the nets, in which it is also customary 

 to catch them, they are seized with such desperation that they 

 bite each other terribly: at times they bite off their own feet 

 either in rage or, because these are entangled, in desperation. 



Nothing is more terrible to see than the arrival of the so-called 

 prival, or ice drift, at which time the sea otters are hunted on 

 the ice drifting in from the sea and are killed with clubs. Gener- 

 ally such a storm and blizzard then reigns that one can hardly 

 keep on one's feet, but nevertheless the hunters do not hesitate 

 to use the night time. Also, they run along on the ice without 

 heed, even when it is drifting and is being lifted on the waves 

 to such an extent that they appear now to be on a mountain 

 and then to plunge into an abyss. Each man has a knife and 

 a stick in hand and long snowshoes laced to his feet, to which 

 are attached bone hooks or horns to prevent sliding on the ice 

 or falling from it where it piles up. The skins must be taken off 

 immediately on the ice, and in this the Kurile Islanders and the 

 Kamchadals are so skillful that they often flense 30 to 40 [animals] 

 in two hours. If luck is with them they [are able to] bring these 

 spoils on land; sometimes, however, when the ice is being driven 

 completely away from the shore, they must abandon e\-erything 

 in order to try to save themselves. In that case they resort to 

 swimming and tie themselves with a small rope to their dog, 

 which by swimming faithfully drags them to shore. However, in 



