ACEOSS THE SUB-AECTICS OF CANADA 



house, its doorway opens into the water, instead of into the 

 air. The doorway, which is in the form of a round hole, 

 just large enough to admit the seal, is kept from freezing up 

 by the wary animal, which ever keeps itself in readiness, 

 upon the slightest suspicion of danger, to plunge in. 



Usually upon the arrival of the hunter, the seal, if at home, 

 hearing the fooisteps ahove, quickly vacates the premises. 

 The Eskimo, then, taking advantage of its absence, ascertains 

 the exact location of the hole in the ice by thrusting his long, 

 slender spear down through the snow. When the exact posi- 

 tion of the hole is fqund, its centre is marked by erecting a 

 little pinnacle of snow directly above it. 



This done, a long and tedious wait follows, during which 

 time the patient hunter often suffers much from the cold, for 

 he is obliged to remain quite still, not uncommonly from early 

 morning until evening. In order to keep his feet from freez- 

 ing while thus remaining for hours upon the snow, a deer- 

 skin bag is commonly used to stand in. 



During the interval of the seal's absence from home the 

 doorway becomes frozen over, and it is on account of this fact 

 that the hunter is made aware of its return, for when the 

 seal comes back and finds its hole crusted over, it commences 

 to blow upon the ice to melt it. This is the hunter's long- 

 desired signal, and the moment he hears it, he places the 

 point of his harpoon at the mark on the snow, and thrusts the 

 weapon vertically down into the hole, almost invariably with 

 deadly effect. The seal, thus harpooned in the head, is 

 instantly killed, and is hauled out by the line attached to the 

 spear. 



Some seasons, when the ice is covered by a great depth of 

 snow, the dogs are not able to scent the seals' houses, and 

 then the Eskimo has to depend upon other sources for food, 

 or else go on short rations. 



In the spring, as the snow disappears, the seals' winter 

 quarters are demolished, and they themselves are exposed to 



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