The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-07-03
HUNTING IN THE ICE.
Seeking the Wary Seal in the Egxhf NJ
an ArtEe fEEInter.


bIooded and resem bling the land Ham.
TaaLsG In many essential respects, is much
more hsh than animal, the seal presenis
US with the spectacle of q fuI-bearing.
carniVorous vertebrate, with onlv q
rudimentary tail and four legs, of which
two are partially and the hinder ones
wholly lost in membranous fins, with
little pedestrian or grasping power.
Rerhaps no other animal on earth Ia so
inherently valuable to the entire races as
this, which, to the E quimaux and SINH
lar northern peoples lying between the
frozen zones, is evidently a gift of the
Creator, that supplies almost everv neces-
sary want OF man under the conditions of
climate OF extreme cold, The skin.
though thin and light, is extremely
tough ana durable, and when proueriv
prepared can be made into garments
soft, warm and waterproof SIS also into
boots, the coverings of tents and boats.
lashings, net lines and ropes of great
strength and fexibility, while the silverv
white pelts of the younger animals afford
purses, tobacco pouches, caps and under
garments of great sOftness and beauty.
The best leather boot ever made is
clumsy and Ieaky beside an Ess uinaux
seal SKIN one, nor can 1t wear 80 long,
keep out the cold so well, or bear such
long continued submersion in snow
water. On the other hand a rubber
boot has none but its waterproof sual>
tiles to commend it.
The blubber affords q food especially
rich IN carbonaceOus matter, and besides
thus contributing to the internal and
natural vital heat, furnishes light and
fuel when other sources are almost
ri L.
| wholesome, and has even found favor in
the tastes of many Europeans who have
had occasion to try it.
The 1ntestines and large internal YES.
sells are used, when properly prepared
to hold various fluids, to supply the
place of glass in window holes. while the
sinews are extremely strong and divisi
bic into very fine threads, with which
with ordinary care a waterproof seam
Is almost a certainty. Even the blood is
utilized in the harsh economy of q life
under such auspices as an Arctic life
affords, and is highly priced delicacy,
with acknowledged virtues as a sourceo of
renewed health and vigor.
Among such people the chase is al
most confined to the larger and older
animals, for as we shall learn hereafter
the soitudes of the vast ocean-floes are
for the most part the birthplace of the
seal. Therefore, the rude harpoon of
narWhSl ivory and walrus-bone, and the
tried skill, dett hunter~craft and tireless
patience OF man are pitted against the
Keen natural senses and amphibious
agility and Watchfulness of the matured
animals.
The Greenlander and the Esquimsux
| OF the American coast paddles noiselegsly
up in his skin kayak, and transfxes his
prey while sleeping on the ice, or as he
rises for an inst Mt breast>high above
the waves. II the aim is true the ami
NAL dives with tie line until the attach
ed drag" forces him, despite his wish,
to the surface, and the victim chased
hlther snd thither, and opposed remorse-
lessly by strain which always Yields,
but never lets go, suecumbs at last, and
often more from utter WEAKNESS than
mortal injury.
At other times, when the foes begin
to melt, above the swifter currents and
warmer pools the seal lies basking in the
sun beside the cold waters. Then the
hunter crouches behind q screen ofwhite,
affixed to smaller sled pushed subtley
before him, or dressed in white, moves
cautiously along behind pinnacles OF ice
OF his shaky musket or the native arrow,
and when with the extreme skill, patience
and cunning known only among men
who have given their lives to this pur.
suit, the hunter has thus far succeeded,
the final scene is almost always a brief
tragedy, so short is the distance chosen
and SO sure the blow.
Even in the dark night of an Attic
winter, where for months cold, gloom and
starvation threaten the lives of men, the
Esquimaux hunter, who sees his ice
covered laIder wasting too soon before
the return of life and light, takes his
weapon and goes forth into the darkness
to try the ragged covering of the frozen
sea, until the hollow sound warns him
that beneath light coating of snow lies
the breathing hole of seal. He darkens
the center spot with little SCOT, or II in
occasional intercourse with white men,
mouthful of tobacco juice, and deli
icate rod of ivory, surrounded by q ball
of the same, runs through the snow and
narrow breathing hole into the aIr cham
Der made by the seal.
1t may be q whole day that he sits
motiOnless in his furs and moccasin boots.
the day may reach into and through the |
night, and perchsnce an ill-iudged move
ment or sound may render the patience
of hours OF no avail, but at last when !
the tell~tale ball trembles and rises from |
its dark-hued circle of color, the barbed |
weapon strikes steadily and well, and |
the seal, transfxed through the brain, |
STILES in his narrow cell, until, with even |
ruder tools than his weapons, the savage /
has broken through the ice and secured |
bis prey.
In the early autumn the savage hunt
ers may often be seen, wrapped In dingy |
blankets, or prepared skins, where some /
sandy point or rocky ledge penetrates
into the channels irequented by this
animal. The musket, rife, bow or lance
Is close at hand. but the hunters, closely
sWathed in their coverings, counterfeit
the jerky motions of 8 sleepy but curious
seal, and initiate such cries as they have
learned are used to invite others to re-
Join the animals basking ashore. It is
wonderful 10 see how such q rude device
is made so faithful copy of nature, that
the swimming animals are often Iured
ashore to their undoing.
In Greenland the Danes have for
many generations drawn q yearly reve-
nue. OF considerable amount from the
trade in seal-skins and oil, which, as
they sre for the most part secured in the
so briefly described, represent
with comparatively few skins and barrels
1f oil vast amount of human patience,
1aring, skill and endurance, brought
oIth by the stern necessities of life
under a zone the most unfavOFable to
human existence. It is strangely pros
Yided, however, and as it seems to us
ittingly too, that the helpless Young of !
he zeal are born far from the sterile