ALASKA. 155 



tlieir skin boats, biclarlies and hidarraJts,) sinews, intestines 

 &c. 



As I have before said, the sea-lion seldom hauls back far 

 from the water, generally very close to the surf-margin, and in 

 this position it becomes quite a difficult task for the natives to 

 approach and get in between it and the sea unobserved, for, 

 unless this silent approach is made, the beast will at once take 

 the alarm and bolt into the water. 



By reference to my map of Saint Paul's, a small point, near 

 the head of the northeast neck of the island, will be seen, 

 upon which quite a large number of sea-lions are always to be 

 found, as it is never disturbed except on the occasion of this an- 

 nual driving. The natives step down on to the beach, in the little 

 bight just above it, and begin to crawl on all fours flat on the 

 sand down to the end of the neck and in between the dozing sea- 

 lion herd and the water, always selecting a semi-bright moonlight 

 night. If the wind is favorable, and none of the men meet with 

 an accident, the natives will almost always succeed in reach- 

 ing the point unobserved, when, at a given signal, they all jump 

 up on their feet at once, yell, brandish their arms, and give a 

 sudden start, or alarm, to the herd above them, for, just as the 

 sea-lions move, upon the first impulse of surprise, so they keep 

 on. For instance, if the animals on starting up are sleeping 

 with their heads pointed in the direction of the water, they 

 keep straight on toward it ; but if they jump up looking over 

 the land, they follow that course just as desperately, and noth- 

 ing turns them, at firnt, either one way or the other. Those 

 that go for the water are, of course, lost, but the natives follow 

 the land-leaders and keep urging them on, and soon have them 

 in their control, driving tliem back into a small pen, which they 

 extemporize by means of little stakes, with flags, set around a 

 circuit of a few hundred square feet, and where they keep them 

 until three or four hundred, at least, are captured, before they 

 commence their drive of ten miles overland down south to the 

 village. 



The natives, latterly, in getting this annual herd of sea-lions, 

 have postponed it until late in the fall, and when the animals 

 are scant in number and the old bulls poor. This they were 

 obliged to do, on account of the pressure of their sealing-busi- 

 ness in the spring, and the warmth of the season in August and 

 September, which makes the driving very tedious. In this way 

 I have not been permitted to behold the best-conditioned 

 drives, i. e., those in which a majority of the herd is made up 



