288 THE FUR SEALS OP THE PRIHILOF ISLANDS. 



On stormy days a, lookout is kept by the liunteis, and the one wbo first sees a 

 seal is entitled to stand in the bow of the canoe as spearsman. At such times three 

 men go in a canoe, the weather usually being too rough for one man to manage it. 

 No selection of canoe is made, the most handy one being used, and also the first spear 

 that can be gotten hold of. 



In the afternoon we stood to the east-southeast 18 mik'S and during the night to 

 the south by west 17 miles, sighting Unalaska Island on the morning of the (Jth. 

 The weather was stormy and blowing a moderate gale from southeast, with falling 

 barometer. The noon observation placed us in latitude 55° 01' north, longitude IG8° 

 07' west, which showed that we had been in a strong southerly current for the past 

 twenty-four hours. Later in the day we ran 19 miles on a northwest course and hove 

 to on the port tack under a two-reefed foresail and fore-staysail and trysail. In the 

 evening we passed close to the schooner iS<in Jose. During the night the wind hauled 

 to the southwest and decreased in force to a very fresh breeze. At times during the 

 following <lay the sea was very rough, not wholly due to the wind, but caused by a 

 strong current running to the southward. At noon the fog and clouds cleared 

 enough to enable us to get an observation — latitude .')4o ;")()' north, longitude 1(57° 27' 

 west. In the afternoon we stood to the northward at a rate sufficient to offset the 

 effect of the current. Late in the day we spoke the schooner Waltn- L. Rich, which 

 liad taken only Of) seals. She had been cruising to the westward of our present posi- 

 tion, near the 00-niile zone, and while in that region liad seen but few seals. 



Toward evening two young seals played about the vessel for some time. They 

 were enticed (luite near by whistling, but not close enough to spear. It is only rarely 

 that seals are speared from the deck of a vessel. The young will often ai)i)roach very 

 near and play about, sometimes for an hour or more, but keeping out of reach. 

 Occasionally, however, their curiosity overcomes their cu.stomary prudence, and at 

 such times they are generally captured. 



In the morning of August 8 there were indications of clearing weather, with 

 rising barometer and an occasional clear spot in the sky. A dozen or more seals in 

 bands of three and four were noticed, causing considerable commotion among the 

 Indians. A week of the sealing season had already i)assed and only a few seals had 

 been captured, in consequence of which the Indians were becoming restless. At 8 

 a. ra. wore ship and shook the reef out of the foresail, but in a short time the fog 

 again settled down and remained so for the remainder of the day. 



In the afternoon we saw quite a large number of seals, more than at any time since 

 entering the sea. Tliey were not moving in any particular dire(!tion. Orcas or killer 

 wliales were plentiful, aiul k<;pt close to the seals, but they did not have the ellect of 

 driving them from the ground. The sealers claim that the orcas destroy large num- 

 bers of seals annually, especially in and about the numerous passes through the 

 Aleutian Islands and off the coast of Japan. Many hunters say that when out in 

 their boats it is not an unfreciuent occurrence to see orcas devour seals. One hunter 

 on board of the Sieircrd informed me that on two occasions, off" the Japan coast, orcas 

 attempted to take the seals that he had shot. During the afternoon we saw five other 

 of the sealing vessels. 



On August the canoes were put over for the first time in five days. The white 

 hunters made a start at 9 a. m., the weather having moderated, and being prompted 

 so to do by the sight of a sleeping seal. The Indian hunters held back for a time, but 



