160 3IARINE 3IA3I3IALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 



water until later, and many have to be forced in by the parents. Once in, how- 

 ever, they soon love to sport in it. The young are taught to swim by the old 

 males on their return from feeding. 



"By the last of October, the seals begin to leave the islands in small compa- 

 nies, the males going last, and by themselves. In November, the young seals (as I 

 was informed by the natives, my own observations ending in August) stop to rest a 

 few days on the Aleutian Islands, and at Ouualaska the natives obtain several hun- 

 dred skins annually. 



"Manner of Killing the Seals. — It will be recollected that I have described 

 the younger seals as spreading out on the slopes above the rookeries to rest at 

 night. A party of men approach these places armed with clubs, and quietly creep 

 between the seals and the shore. When ready, the men start up with a shout at a 

 given signal, and drive the seals inland in a body. When at a sufficient distance 

 from the rookery, they halt to screen the flock of as many as possible that are too 

 old for killing, only those that are two and three years old yielding prime skins ; 

 the fur of those older is too coarse to be marketable. The screening is done by 

 driving the seals slowly forward in a curve; the older, sullenly holding back, force 

 the more timid forward, when the men, opening their ranks, let them pass through 

 and return to the shore. The remainder of the flock is then driven to the killing- 

 ground, though still containing many too old to be of value. 



"It is necessary to drive the flock some distance from the breeding -ground, 

 as the smell of the blood and the carcasses disturbs the seals. Another object is, 

 to make the seals carry their own skins to the salt -house; hence it is sometimes 

 necessary to drive them six or seven miles. The driving has to be conducted with 

 great care, as the violent exertion causes the seals to heat rapidly, and, if heated 

 beyond a certain degree, the fur is loosened, and the skin becomes valueless. In 

 a cool day they may be driven one mile and a half per hour with safety. When 

 arrived at the killing-ground, a few boys are employed to keep them from strag- 

 gling, and they are thus left to rest and cool. Then from seventy to one hundred 

 are separated from the flock, surrounded, and driven on each other, so that they 

 confine themselves by treading on each other's flippers. Those desired for killing 

 are then easily selected, and quickly dispatched by a blow on the nose. When 

 these are killed, the remainder are allowed to go to the nearest water, whence 

 they immediately return to the place from which they were driven. This operation 

 is repeated until the whole flock is disposed of. The work of skinning is per- 

 formed by all the men on the island, and everyone participating in it is allowed 

 to share in the proceeds. 



