60 
are securely attached to it. The chief himself is the principal har- 
pooner, and is the first that strikes the whale. He is attended by 
several canoes of the same size as his own, filled with people armed 
with harpoons, to be employed as occasion may require. When the 
huge fish feels the smart of the first wea]>on, he instantly dives, and 
carries the shaft with all its bladders along with him. The boats 
immediately follow his wake, and as he rises, continue to fix their 
weapons in him, till he finds it impossible for him to sink, from the 
number of floating buoys which are now attached to his body. The 
whale then drowns, and is towed to shore with great noise and 
rejoicings.”^ 
Almost as strenuous as whaling was tlie sea-otter hunting of the 
Pacific Coast Indians. For this pursuit four men, equipped with 
light harpoons and with bows and arrows, set out in two very light 
canoes. If they found an otter sleeping on the surface of the water, 
they harpooned it and dragged it to one of the boats, where it fought 
savagely with its claws and teeth, sometimes inflicting serious wounds. 
Usually it sighted their approach ami dived. The two canoes then 
followed in its course, separating in order that one or the other might 
be within bow-shot when it rose for breath; but the otter was swift 
and cunning, so that the pursuit often lasted several hours before 
it was killed or finally made good its escape.' 
The same Indians lured seals within range of their arrows by 
wearing wooden masks, covering their bodies with branches, and 
imitating the actions of a seal basking among the rocks. Sea-lions, 
which were less timid and more frequently came ashore, they attacked 
with clubs; the Haida Indians killed large numbers of these animals 
during their spring excursions to the west coast of the Queen Char- 
lotte islands. But the most skilful hunters of sea-mammals were 
the Eskimo. Like the Pacific Coast Indians they harpooned the 
whale, the seal, and also the walrus from their boats during tlie sum- 
mer months. The whale and the walrus disappeared in the autumn, 
but the seal at that season broke small holes in the slowly-forming 
ice and kept these breathing-places open all winter. Drifting snow 
soon rendered the holes invisible, but the flogs could scent them out. 
IMeares: Op. cit., pp. 259-260. 
2 Ibid., p. 260. 
3 [)-)id.. p. 261. S(’\f'r:d trilKV; in Hritifili Cnluinbia used the siune taeties for eatfliing ^t't'se and 
Ewanjs. The liimter covered Ids he.ad with a goose or swan skin, swam out into the middle of a flock 
and pulled the birds tinder water. 
