580 



ARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITION. 



the seal, " talking" to it, as the Innuits say, till he is within strik- 

 ing distance, then he pounces upon it with a single jump. The 

 natives say that if they could " talk" as well as the bear, they 

 could catch many more seals. 



The procedure of the bear is as follows : He proceeds very caur 

 tiously toward the black speck far off on the ice, which he knows 

 to be a seal. When still a long way from it, he throws himself 

 clown on his side, and hitches himself along toward his game. 

 The seal meanwhile is taking its naps of about ten seconds each, 

 ultimately raising its head and surveying the entire horizon be- 

 fore composing itself again to brief slumber. As soon as it raises 

 its head the bear " talks," keeping perfectly still. The seal, if it 

 sees any thing, sees but the head, which it takes for that of an- 

 other seal. It sleeps again. Again the bear hitches himself along, 

 and once more the seal looks around, only to be " talked" to again 

 and again deceived. Thus the pursuit goes on till the seal is 

 caught, or till he makes his escape, which it seldom does. 



In Chapter XXXII. there occurs a description of the manner 

 in which a young seal is often used to lure the mother within 

 striking distance of the hunter. This is copied by the Innuits 

 from the habits of the polar bear. This animal finds by his keen 

 scent where a seal's igloo has been built under the snow. He 

 then goes back a little distance, runs and jumps with all his weight 

 upon the dome, breaks it down, and immediately thrusts in his 

 paw and seizes the young seal. Then, holding it by one of its 

 hind flippers, he scoops away all the snow from the seal hole lead- 

 ing up through the ice into the igloo, and afterward allows the 

 young one to flounder about in the water. When the old seal 

 comes up, the bear draws the young one slyly on toward him, till 

 the anxious mother gets within reach, when he seizes her with his 

 other paw. 



The natives tell many most interesting anecdotes of the bear, 



has indicated the precise point within a circle of about ten inches in diameter. The 

 sealer, therefore, thrusts the spindle of his seal-spear down through the hard snow, 

 seeking to find the breathing-hole, which is not more than one to two inches in di- 

 ameter. After perhaps a dozen attempts, he finally strikes the hole. Now he care- 

 fully withdraws his spear, and marks with his eye the hole, which leads down through 

 perhaps eighteen to twenty-four inches depth of snow. When now he hears the seal, 

 he raises his spear, and strikes unerringly through the snow to the seal's head. The 

 animal at once dives, and runs out the full length of the line, one end of which is fast 

 in the hand of the sealer. He proceeds to cut away the deep snow, and to chisel 

 the ice so as to enlarge the top of the seal hole, from which he soon draws forth his 

 prize. 



