4 4 2 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Juste 20, 1888. 



THE FUR FISHERIES OF THE NORTH- 

 WEST SEAS. 



[By a Staff Correspondent,] 



QJ. — WATER SEALING. 



WITHIN the last few years an eutirely different method 

 of taking fur seals has been pursued on the North- 

 west coast and in the Bering Sea. Instead of killing the 

 seals upon their "hauling grounds." that is, upon the land, 

 the sealers look for thern iu the water; either as they are 

 on their way north in the spring, or when they have come 

 off their hauling grounds to feed. In other words, the 

 sealers have adopted the method of seal hunting which 

 has always been employed by the Indians of the British 

 Columbia coast, who know the seals only as migrants 

 and not as residents. 



The seals which pass the months of May, June, July, 

 August, September and October on their breeding 

 grounds, leave these islands at the approach of winter, 

 and passing southward disappear into the illimitable 

 waste of waters of the Pacific Ocean. 



Ju3t where they go, or what they do for the next two 

 months, is not certainly known, but it is more than prob- 

 able that they spend their time resting and feeding hi the 

 open sea, recuperating from the exhausting cares of the 

 breeding season. However this may be, we know that 

 on their return journey for their summer home, the seals 

 reach the coast of California and British Columbia at 

 the same time, usually from Dec. 15 to Dec. 25. They are 

 always off these coasts by Jan. 1. 



The seating vessels usually leave Victoria, B. C, in 

 December, and proceed south as far as the Farallone 

 Islands to meet the advancing droves. They spend the 

 months of January, February and March off the coasts 

 of California, Oregon, Washington Territory and British 

 Columbia, and in May return to port to refit for their 

 voyage to the Bering Sea. Each captain keeps a care- 

 ful record of the date and place where he finds seals 

 abundant, and the next year tries to be back at the same 

 spot at the same time. This does not always insure a 

 good catch, for the seals are somewhat irregular in their 

 movements, but usually they pass the same places at 

 about the same dates each year. When the seals have 

 been found, the vessels try to keep with them as long as 

 possible. 



No seals are killed nearer the land than from fifteen to 

 twenty-five miles, and the animals are found and killed 

 up to 125 miles from the coast. The "fishing' is more 

 successful at the greater distances. Near the shore the 

 animals are moving forward and backward, traveling 

 either to or from their feeding grounds, and so are always 

 awake and difficult of approach, while, after reaching 

 their feeding grounds and having a hearty meal they turn 

 over on their backs and go to sleep on the surface of the 

 water. It is at this time that the sealers take them. 



Two methods of taking the seals are employed; (1) with 

 white crews and (2) with Indians, and the vessels Used are 

 schooners of from 25 to 100 tons burden. 



If the crew consists of white men, it usually uumbers 

 from 20 to 25. For a crew of this number six boats would 

 be required. These sealing boats are double-ended, built 

 on the same principle as a whaleboat, and ate so small that 

 two men can pull a pair of sculls each. They are pro- 

 vided with a mast and sail, and when there is wind they 

 proceed under canvas. Each boat carries a compass and 

 a fog horn, and the vessel has always a fog horn and a 

 bomb gun or small cannon, for sometimes the boats get 

 lost in a fog, though it is unusual for anything serious' to 

 happen to them. Each boat is provided with a water 

 breaker, holding from three to five gallons, and with 

 enough cooked food for two or three meals. The sculls 

 are fitted with leather, so that progression shall be as 

 nearly noiseless as possible. The seal hunter carries a 

 repeating rifle and a double-barreled shotgun and an 

 ammunition box. 



One day on board a sealing schooner is very like an- 

 other. If the vessel is on good sealing ground, and at 

 the approach of evening considerable numbers of the 

 animals are in sight, the captain endeavors to remain as 

 nearly as possible in the same position. If it is calm or 

 the wind is light, he heaves to, or if there is much wind, 

 he beats a little to windward. If he is not on good seal- 

 ing ground, sail is made for the next nearest known 

 ground — some spot where seals have previously been 

 found — so as to be there by daylight the next morning. 



All hands are called a little before daylight, breakfast 

 is hastily eaten, and the boats are at once lowered. If 

 the weather is calm they row off, but if there is a breeze 

 the sail is raised. The boats take parallel courses, keep- 

 ing about half a mile apart, and if there is wind the 

 schooner follows, keeping near the leeward boat. If it is 

 still the boats must, of course, return to her. They 

 usually come on board at night about dark. 



Each boat has a crew of three men, who are known as 

 the "seal hunter," the "boat puller'' and the "boat 

 steerer." When seals are plenty the boat steerer remains 

 at the tiller, the boat puller handles the oars and the seal 

 hunter stands in the bows. When a boat sights a seal it 

 is cai'efully approached, and if asleep, there is usually no 

 difficulty in getting near enough to it to shoot it. If it is 

 awake, however, the task may be much more difficult. 

 Sometimes the seal through curiosity will come quite 

 close to the boat, and in this way they sometimes swim 

 up to within fifteen or twenty yards. Others take the 

 alarm at once, move off and are hardly seen again. With 

 a "wake" seal it is always a question whether it is best to 

 take a long shot at it with a rifle at the first opportunity 

 or to wait for a closer, and more certain, chance with the 

 shotgun. From his position on the bows the hunter can 

 see each motion of the seal upon the surface of the water, 

 and from its actions must promptly make up his mind 

 what the animal is going to" do. 



Good judgment and discretion are prime requisites for 

 the seal hunter. He must know when to shoot and when 

 to hold his fire. He must avoid alarming the seal, and 

 must make a sure shot. Experience and judgment, there- 

 fore, are more important qualifications for success than 

 good marksmanship. An experienced man can tell 

 almost at once by the actions of a "wake" seal, whether 

 it will be possible for him to get a shot at it or not, and 

 when it dives can determine pretty nearly where it will 

 appear again. The hunter always tries to shoot the 

 animal through the head. Unlike the hair seal, which 

 on receiving a wound, at once sinks like a stone, the fur 

 seal after being fatally wounded floats for some minutes, 

 sometimes even for half an hour. Most of the seals 



taken are shot within thirty yards of the boat, and a few 

 strokes of the oars bring the boat alongside. The hunter 

 stands ready with his gaff, and the animal is quickly 

 lifted in. It is said that very few are lost by sinking, 

 probably not three per cent., and twenty-five seals 

 to a boat are considered a good day's work. Ten a day 

 for a month are a good average. Sometimes a boat may 

 get fifty or sixty in a day, but this is very unusual. In 

 the season of 188C-8? Captain William O'Leary had two 

 boats, one of which got fifty-seven and another forty- 

 eight the same day. That day's catch for the six boats 

 was 242 seals. The same season Captain Alexander Mc- 

 Lean got 24? in one day to Ms six boats. Such good luck 

 as this does not come often, however. 



As soon as a boat gets twenty five or thirty seals the 

 men begin to remove the pelts, one man attending to the 

 boat while the others skin. The operation is not a long 

 one. The hide is ripped along the median line of the 

 belly from chin to tad, a cut is made around each fore- 

 flipper and around both hind ones, and the hide is rapidly 

 peeled off. A very quick workman will skin a seal in 

 three minutes, an ordinary workman in from six to t even. 

 The average time occupied is perhaps between four and 

 five minutes. If the seals are plenty they are skinned in 

 this way, but if less than thirty are taken they are usually 

 brought on board unskinned, and if there is time after 

 reaching the vessel the men skin them that night; if not, 

 the work is done next morning after breakfast. The 

 hides are then salted in bulk, stowed in the hold and left 

 there until the vessel reaches port. 



The white crews are hired in various ways: Sometimes 

 for wages, sometimes for "lays," or shares in the catch, 

 and sometimes by the piece, that is a boat's crew is paid 

 a certain price for each seal that it brings in. These sys- 

 tems are only different names for the same thing, since 

 either method amounts to about $30 per month for the 

 ordinary hands. A lay might be as follows: 



Yeesel, including interest, time, outfit, provisions, eto. . , , 1-3 



Captain l-io 



Mate 1-30 



Huntt-r (where there are six boats) 1-30 



Roat steerer and puller (where there are six boats), each 1-80 



Cook, who is always hired for rleJinite wages, say #60 1-30 



Total 61-60 



The remainder of the catch would be the owner's profit. 

 No dependence is placed on getting fresh provisions, 

 and all eatables are brought on board before leaving port. 

 Sometimes the liver and tongue of the seal are eaten, and 

 the vessel catches some codfish, but usually their pro- 

 visions are salt. 



The perils which attend this method of sealing are not 

 many, and are only those to which fishermen in general 

 are exposed. The sealers never attempt to capture any 

 of the larger marine mammalia, such as whales, wal- 

 ruses or sea lions. The loss of the boats in rough or thick 

 weather is the most serious danger, but as they seldom 

 get more than eight or nine miles from the vessel. Ions 

 of life very rarely results from this cause. In May. 1887, 

 however, Capt. Wm. O'Leary, of the schooner Pathfinder, 

 lost a boat which was never heard of afterward. The 

 morning on which it started out was fine, but soon be- 

 came foggy; the wind, which had been blowing from the 

 northwest, whipped around to the southeast and blew a 

 gale, and the boat never got back to the schooner. In a 

 case like this there i3 manifestly nothing to be done ex- 

 cept for the larger craft to await the return of the 

 smaller, and the schooner remains as nearly as possible 

 in the position which she occupied at the time of the 

 boat's departure. For her to go in search of the latter, 

 sailing through the fog over the wide ocean, would be 

 worse than looking for a needle in a haystack, and by 

 leaving her position she would of course miss the boat if 

 it returned. 



When Indians are employed as hunters a somewhat 

 different method of pursuit is followed. Boats are not used, 

 but the Indians go out fro n the vessel in their canoes. 

 A large vessel will carry twenty-five of these canoes, and 

 the average is perhaps fifteen or twenty. To each canoe 

 there are two Indians, each of whom wields a paddle. 

 They do not shoot the seals, but use altogether the native 

 spear. The seal spear is about 12ft. long and two-pronged, 

 the second prong being lashed to the shaft about 3ft. 

 from the end and at a very acute angle with it. 



The spear heads, which fit on the prongs, are movable 

 and barbed, so that when struck into the animal they read- 

 ily become detached from the shaft. A line is attached 

 to each spear head, and these two come together a few 

 feet back from the points, and are knotted to a main line 

 10 or 12 fathoms long, which in turn is fastened to the 

 spear shaft by one or two half hitches, the spear line 

 being coiled in the bow of the canoe. The object of the 

 double-headed spear is to give two chances at the seal; if 

 one head misses, the other may pierce him. Sometimes 

 it happens that an Indian, who comes upon two teals 

 sleeping together, as they often do, may secure both at a 

 single throw. These people are very skillful with the 

 spear and paddle, and never wake a sleeping seal when 

 approach ing it. When the spear is tliro wn and the points 

 strike a seal, the shaft falls away from them, but the 

 barb remains imbedded in the flesh. The end of the line 

 is firmly held by the hunter and the animal is allowed to 

 run free— to "play," so to speak — until partially ex- 

 hausted, when it is hauled up to the side of the canoe 

 and killed by beating over the head with a heavy club 

 carried for that purpose. 



Although these Indians never get as many seals as the 

 white boats' crews, yet they are very skillful and success- 

 ful hunters. On the sealing ground they work somewhat 

 differently from the white crews, the canoes radiating 

 out from the vessel in all direction**, while she either 

 heaves to or beats about in one place, instead of follow- 

 ing the small craft. 



All the Indians employed in this trade are from the 

 west coast of Vancouver Island, Ahousit, Hesketh, Bar- 

 clay and Nootka Sound tribes. All these were at one time 

 very troublesome, and not a few crews of white men 

 wrecked on this stern coast were murdered for the cloth- 

 ing they wore when they reached land. One of the last 

 cases of this kind occurred over twenty years ago, and 

 when at length the news reached Victoria,"Admiral Den- 

 man despatched the man-of war Sutlej to bring back the 

 offenders or punish the village. The chiefs laughed in 

 the face of the officer when he demanded that the mur- 

 derers should be delivered to them, and the vessel pro- 

 ceeded to shell the village. Shells were something new 

 to the Indians, who at once took shelter in the woods in 

 a panic, but a few shells thrown beyond them drove them 



back to the beach again, and in a very humble frame of 

 mind. The lesson they then received was not forgotten. 

 The next year after this occurrence an American crew 

 was wrecked near this same place, and a numbpr of the 

 crew got ashore alive. They were well received by the 

 Indians, who cared for them'and took them to the settle- 

 ments. In return for this they were given some medals 

 and a lot of clothing by the United States Government. 



A souvenir left at this village by the Sutlej was a shell, 

 which for some reason had failed to explode. Some time 

 after the departure of the vessel it was found by the 

 Indians, who, in complete ignorance of what it was, 

 laboriously transported it to the village and placed it in 

 the largest house, where for several years it served as a 

 seat. But one day while a chief was giving a great 

 "potlatch," or feast, some of the Indians who were drunk 

 began to try to open the shell to see what was inside of it. 

 They never found out, for when it exploded it kdled all 

 the investigators and some others, blew the roof off the 

 house, and the chief who was giving the "potlatch" was 

 blown either entirely away or at all events into such 

 small fragments that no portion of him was ever found. 

 This added somewhat to the respect which the^e Indians 

 already felt for the ' 'Boston men's," warships. 



Of late years several Roman Catholic priests have gone 

 among these people, and under their tuition and guid- 

 ance they are rapidly becoming civilized. G. B. G. 

 [TO 3E CONTINUED.] 



I&M eUportmifHti jurist 



IN BLUE GRASS LAND. 



n.— KENTUCKY FOX HUNTING — THE IROQUOIS CLUB- 

 NOTES AND INCIDENTS, 



IN an earlier paper, perhaps, I have rambled over 

 enough space to convey the idea that the Blue Grass 

 region, provided it were the possession of foxes, would 

 be a great country for fox hunting. As a matter of fact 

 I presume there is no place in the United States where 

 that sport is more zealously followed, or where it can be 

 seen in better form. There are plenty of red foxes within 

 a dozen miles of Lexington, and the country is certainly 

 hard enough to provoke all the energy of the most daring 

 rider, even in that section, which is more than any other 

 of our land, a country of fine horses and fine horsemen. 

 There is plenty of leisure, plenty of foxes and fences and 

 plenty of skill and grit in riding. Every town of conse- 

 quence in the Blue Grass country has its pack, and some 

 of these are famous. They tell me that Kit Clay's pack, 

 of Bourbon county, is the finest pack of foxhounds in the 

 United States. Jack Chinn's pack, kept not far out 

 from Lexington, is another of renown. The class of fox- 

 hounds used in this section is very high. If it were not 

 good the Blue Grass men would not tolerate it, for in the 

 matter of four-footed running creatures they are connois- 

 seurs of the most ably critical sort. 



There is no more typical hunt in the entire Blue Gram 

 country than that of the Iroquois Hunting and Riding- 

 Club., of Lexington, composed of twenty-five gentlemen 

 and twenty-five ladies. Their winter hunts are the talk 

 of the day. They are a set of hard riders, and there is 

 not one of them, gentleman or lady, who does not follow 

 the music until something breaks. It is cross-country 

 riding of the hardest sort. The turf is usually good, but 

 the innumerable fences fairly keep the horses in the air. 

 There is little difficulty with the stone walls and stake- 

 and-rider fences, but the stiff post and rail fences some- 

 times balk the best of them. Once in the hunt there is 

 no getting out of it. The average Blue Crass thorough- 

 bred goes fairly wild when he hears the hounds open, and 

 there is no stopping him. Mr. Williams was remarking 

 to me that his horse, Abstembler, was too nervous and 

 high strung to be pleasant on the road. 'Why don't vou 

 take it out of him?" I asked. ''Do you want the job?"* he 

 said. "You can ride liim twenty miles across, as hard as 

 you please, and that won't take it out of him. Some of 

 these horses are demons when they get started." In this 

 wild work — the very thought of which is enough to set 

 one's pulses tingling in eagerness— there have be-en severed 

 pretty serious accidents, and recently one fatal mishap, 

 although I do not recall that the young gentleman who 

 lost his life was a member of the Iroquois Club. Once, 

 Mr. Williams told me, he was riding for a fence, with two 

 other riders in front of him. Both of the latter fell at 

 the fence, and they and their horses were tangled into a 

 confusion whose only result seemed death or maiming. 

 There was no time to stop — for full speed is the only way 

 to take a fence— so over went he, clearing the whole 

 bunch of fallen horses and riders. Out of this apparently 

 ugly accident everybody came unhurt, beyond a few 

 bruises. 



There is one peculiarity about Blue Grass fox hunting, 

 which may be very well known to the general public, 

 and which may not; I know it was a surprise tome. This 

 is, that all the fox hunting is done at night! There is no 

 meet of a clear and crispy morn, and no return at bluff 

 and stinging evening. At night the fox plays around in 

 one locality, and does not lay a straight line out of the 

 country as he is apt to do in the daytime. The scent lies 

 better at night, the time is cooler i'n warm weather, and 

 not too cold in that mild climate. Above all, the multi- 

 fold hum of the day has subsided, so that the wild music 

 of the hounds comes across the fields with double volume 

 and melody. To this music the horses will go. and little 

 is left but to ride straight, never to flinch or waver at a 

 jump, and keep the horse's courage backed by that of his 

 rider. The Black Forest stories of the night-huntsman 

 and his demon pack would have good foundation if on 

 some starlit time of midnight one heard the swelling cry 

 of the running pack come near and die away, and saw 

 flitting by shadowy figures which faded off" across the 

 fields or vanished in the wood, with few sounds save the 

 pant of the straining steeds and the thunder of their 

 hoofs upon the sturdy turf. For some unknowing stranger, 

 belated on some lonely lane of that quiet country, what a 

 rare midnight experience that would be! How he could 

 tell his children of the clash of bit, and gleam of spur, and 

 glitter of eye, and body at the horse's neck as he rose to a 

 fence, and well back to save his knees when he took the 

 ground— each spirit riding like a human being, but all so 

 wild, following the music of the spirit pack that lessened 

 and sank in the distance of the rolling fields! Tarn O' 

 Shanter himself had not so good an opportunity! Yet 



