The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-07-03

glass.
The mother seals fish around the foes
where their young are Graded, gener-
ally somewhat sheltered by some natL-
raj depressiOns of the surface or the lee
OF snow bank or ice pinnacle, and re-
turn at intervals TO suckle the pups"
which grow with marvellous rapidit7 in
size and fatness; indeed, so much so that
more than once the lucky sealer which
has stumbled upon a herd too Young
for the slaughter, has hauled into 3
snug berth in the ice snd laid quietly
drifting southwark, until the doomed
animals had become of fitting quality
and dimensions.
When about six weeks old the foes
are deserted and the herds separate; but
no man has ever yet been able to tell
how the huge congregation breaks up,
or by what devious ways the smaller
parties into which it dissOlves find their
way to the salmon rivers of Labrador
and Canada and the tidal harbnrs of the
New England coast.
They are found, however, at almost
every such location of any consequence.
sometimes IN small numbers and some.
times IN parties of several hundred. and
the Nasquapees, Montagnats, Micmacs
and other httorsl aborigines of the At
lantle coast add materially to their re-
sources by shooting them from canoes,
or decoying them, while lying swathed
In blankets upon the rocks.
In Europe the Kamschstksu. the
YOurt, the Samoiede, the Finn and the
Laplander carry on q fishery whose pro-
duct along the shores of the White SEES
alone is nearly 100000 gallons of oil.
valued at about $100,0 900, annually.
On the eastern coast of the White
sea, called by the natives the /" winter
coast, the PhOca Greenlandica. or harm
seal, is found with its young on the
floating ice, which from the LIST of Feb.
ruary to The end of March is patrolled
for nearly $50 miles by parties of hunt
ers, who have at various suitable points
tall watch towers built of wood, from
which veteran hunters descry the sd
proach OF such foes as appear to be
worthy of q visit. From one to two
score hunters, habited in long white
shirts, provided with spiked bats, gus
and strong light boats, and small quanti~
ties OF spirits and provisions, then ven
ture OF on the sea ice and kill the Young
seals with heavy blows on the nose, and
such OF the large IS can be successfully
approached by nOiselessly crawling over
No more than our or five seals to each
bu1ter are usually killed, as the pelts
with their adherent blubber must be
dragged or toWed to shore, ALWAYS at the
cost OF great physical exertiOn, and not
unffequently under circumstances OF
imminent hardships anc peril. a sud-
den gale may sweep the ice away from
the land, or dense snow squall or fog
shut out all objects from the doomed
hunters until chilled, exhausted and
despalrlng they perish miserably one by
one amid the icy solitudeg.
The providence of the hunters has,
however, erected at every two or three
miles along the coast, huts of refuge
capable of sheltering from twenty to
thirty men, and in these, now over q
hundred in number, there is constant
excitement and incident during the two
months OF the year above mentioned.
Like all ether similar emplOyments, the
rest OF perfect Incidence, sometimes en-
forced by terrible stOrmE sometimes the
results of unfavOrabie winds which keep
the seal-laden foes far out of ken of the
powerful telescope of their chief or the
8t0TostG, is often broken by feverish
season of unwonted fortune and heYcu-
lean eXertiOn, with now and then the
81
service, or the unIestrained crimes COM
mon to such fierce and savage natures to
madden or utterly COW the rude natures
OF q people almost beyond the pale of |
civilization. At all times the vices of a |
savage Life, gaming and drunkenness, |
make their night gatherings a scene of |
Darbarous reVeI, and the universal pipe |
and the recital of trying adventures and |
the most curious and mystical legends, |
superstitions and tales of demonology, |
witchcraft and the power of the church !
and her saints, fill up the measure of /
their social intercourse.
By the middle of March the Young |
seals begin to leave the ice and gather |
on the foes of the open sea, and about |
the middle o. April many of those who /
have hunted the water coast gather at
the river KulOi, where in large sailing
boats from twenty-five to twenty-five /
feet long by six to eight feet in beam,
hat bottomed and shOd with iron, they
embark to seek the distant ice fields.
Seven men, with their arms, ammuni-
ton, bedding and fuel, embark in each
boat, and to every three boats, or score
of men, a stGrOsta (literally ''the old one'')
is elected, whose duty it is to guard the
stuff and prepare food for his companions.
All set sail at the same time, and having
reached the ice fields an encampment Is
formed, from which SIS a center they set
out N search of the seals. When near
these the most skillful marksmen are
placed in front, and a regular b0ttue COM
mences, the hunters surrounding the |
herds when possible. and allowing none
10 escape.
The huntsmen seldom allow themselves
10 stray far from their boats, which, |
when light, are easily dragged over hard
ice, and are not unfrequently propelled
oy their sails alone at great speed over
the frozen levels. At night they meet
1T the common rendezvous to drink
freely of hot tea and eat their provisions,
If course black bread and coarse fish AMI
'he meat and Viscera of the seals.
When the boats are full they return to
he shore, where the outftters receive
rom One-half to twO~thirds the catch,
md the emsinder is divided among the
luntsmen, on q scale of ability and skill
previously agreed upon.
On the western shore (called the Teski
,oast) about five hundred huntsmen
assemble at an assemblage of
ude huts called DeUi1tdya, about nine
niles moth of the mouth of the Ponoi
The men hunt in fouTs one remaining
shore with his sleigh and reindeer, while
ach of the others wearing q short cloak
+ reindeer skin, trousers of the same,
nd fur-lined boots, sling at his side
mall bag containing ammunition and
pod, takes his gun and irOn-pOinted
taft, and, while the master" leads the
ray, testing the treacherous surIace, his
wo companions follow, drawing a light