Connecticut western news., 1880-10-06
TORTOISE SHOOTING.
How it is Carried on by Indians on
 the Coast of Maine.

Porpoise-shooting affords to the Indi- ans of the Passamaquoddy tribe their principal means of support. It is prac ticed at all seasons of the year, but the fish killed in the winter are the fattest and give the largest quantities of oil. The largest-sized porpoises measure about seven feet in length, about the girth five feet, weigh three hundred pounds and upward, and yield from six to seven gallons of oil. The blubber is about one and one half inches thick in summer, and two inches thick in winter, at which time the creature is in its best condition. The blubber from a large porpSss5 weighs abont one hundred pounds. The Indians try out the oil in @ very primitive manner, and with very rude but picturesque appliances. The blubber is stripped off, then cut into small pieces, which are placed in huge iron pots and melted over fire. All along the beach were placed, at inter- vals, curious structures, consisting of two upright pieces of wood, surmounted by cross-piece, from which the pots were hung by chains. Under this cross piece large stones were piled in semi circle, inside of which a fire was made that was allowed to burn fercely until the stones were at 0 white heat. The fire was then scattered, and the pots containing the blubber were placed over the stones and just enough fire kept un- der them to insure the melting of the blubber. When melted, the oil was skinned off into other receptacles, then poured into tin cans of about five gallons capacity, and the process was complete. If the oil IS pure, it readily brings ninety cents per gallon, but if adulterated with seal, or any other in- ferior oil, it's value is reduced to sixty five cents per gallon. A very superior oil is obtained fl om the jaw of the DOT boise. The jaws are hung up in the sun and the oil, as it drips, is caught in cans placed for that purpose. The quantity of oil thus procured is small, being only about half of pint from each jaw, but
 
 makers and others requiring very fine lubricator. The oil from the blubber gives very good light, and was for 9 long time used in all the lighthouses on the coast. It is also capital oil for lu bricating machinery, never gets sticky, and is unaffected by cold weather. When pure, there is no offensive smell, and know of no oil equal to it for those who are compelled to use their eyes at night. The light is very soft, and, used in @ German students lamp, one can work almost as comfortably as by day light, and the dreaded glare of gas and other artificial lights is completely avoided.
 If industrious, and favored with ordi- nary success, an Indian can kill from one hundred and fifty to two hundred porpoises in a year, and they will aver age probably three gallons of oil each. But, unfortunately, the poor Indians are not industrious, or only so by fits and starts, or as necessity compels them. Their way is usually to accumulate some fifteen or twenty gallons of oil, then go off to Eastport, Maine, with it., for market. Thus, much time is lost in lettering about the towns, and ill go- ing to and returning from the hunting grounds. Moreover, there are always two Indians to each canoe, and the pro- ceeds of the hunt have to be divided. There is quite 8 good demand for the oil, and, if systematically followed, DOT poise-shooting would furnish the Indi- ans with comfortable support. The , flesh of the porpoise, when cooked, IS | not unlike fresh pork, and at one time was much used. The Indians still use it, and it is also in request by the fisher men on the coast, who readily exchange fresh fish for "porpus " meat with the | Indians.
 | Almost unknown to the outside world, here is an industry followed by these poor Indians, year after year, calling ln its pursuit for more bravery, skill and endurance than perhaps any other occu- patton. could not help feeling mel ancholy interest in them and their pur- suits as I sat on the beach at sunrise, watching them embark on their perilous work. For these poor creatures, "por' pusin'" possessed an all-absorbing Inter. est, and the chances of success, state o1 weather and price obtainable for the oi were matters of every day discussion.
 In the morning, all the women anc children turned out to see the canoes ge off, and if during the day storm came up, or the canoes were unusually latt in returning, many anxious eyes would
 be turned seaward. They were always
 pleasant and good-natured with one an
 other, and in general returned from thu
 hunt about three o'clock in the after
 noon. After dinner, one would hav
 thought that, tired out with their exer
 tions, they would have sought repose but they did not seem to need it, an' the rest of the day until sundow1
 would be spent in friendly games upol
 the beach.
 | To make a successful porpo1se-hunte , requires five or six years of constan practice. Boys, ten or twelve years c age, are taken out in the canoes by tn men, and thus early trained in the pun suit of that which is to form their mai support in after years. Porpoise-shoot ing is followed at all seasons and in a kinds of weather-in the summer sea, l the boisterous autumn gales, and in tn D Df int In 5 calm summer day, the porpoise can b heard blowing for 8 long distance l Scribner, ,for October.
 THE GROWTH OF BOSTON. - BQsto