288 THE FUR SKALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



On stormy days a lookout is kept by the hunteis, and the one who 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. 

 1^0 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 miles and during the night to 

 the south by west 17 miles, sighting TJnalaska Island on the morning of the Cth. 

 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 168° 

 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 San Jose. During the night the wind hauled 

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

 following day 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 

 enougli to enable us to get an observation — latitude 54° 56' north, longitude 167° 27' 

 west. lb 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 Walter L. Rich, which 

 had taken only 65 seals. She had been cruising to the westward of our present posi- 

 tion, near the 60-mile zone, and while in that region had seen but few seals. 



Toward evening two young seals i)layed about the vessel for some time. They 

 were enticed quite 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 approach very 

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

 Occasionally, however, their curiosity overcomes their customary prudence, and at 

 such times they are generally captured. 



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

 rising barometei' 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 iiassed and only a few seals had 

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

 a. m. 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. They were not moving in any particular direction. Orcas or killer 

 whales were plentiful, and kept close to the seals, but tliey did not have the effect of 

 driving them from the ground. The sealers claim that tlie 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 unfrequent occurrence to see orcas devour seals. One hunter 

 on board of the Siewerd informed me that on two occasions, oft' 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 9 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 



