Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-07-02

the vessel and reappeared in the same attitude.
Frequently il would fetch in its hand Q sea
plant not unlike 2 bottle gourd and would toss
ton was probably one of the big air vessels Of
the keip.
METHODS OF CAPTURING THEN.
The ancient method commonly practiced BY
the Aleuts in the chase Of the sea otter was the
'spearing surround" As described by Seal
Commissioner Henry W. Elliott. to whom the
writer is chiefly indebted for his information on
the subject, this kind Of hunt is engaged in by
fifteen or twenty skin boats with two men in
each, all being under control Of a leader chosen
by common consent When the weather il
moderately good the boats start out in a long
line, slowly padding ovef the water where il il
expected to find the game. As quickly as one
Of the animals is discovered, asleep most likely.
the hunter who has spied ii lifts his paddle for
signal. At the same moment he darts toward
the prey, which nearly always takes alarm be-
fore it can be struck and instantly dives But
the canoe keeps right on and stops directly
over the spot where the beast disappeared.
leaving circling rings with floating bubbles
from its quick-caught breath. The other boats
Immediately deploy and scatter, forming a
circle half q mile wide around the place where
the SEQ otter was last SEEN
Thus arranged. the hunters wait patiently
Tor the temperance Of the animal, which must
come to the surface for breath in from fifteen
to thirty minutes. When this happens the boat
nearest darts forward like its predecessor. while
all hands shout and throw up their spears to
make the sea otter dive again. thus giving IL
scarcely an instant in which to recover itself
and expel the poisoned air from its lungs A
sentry is placed over the second diving wake as
before, and the circle Is drawn anew In this
manner the surprise is quickly and often re-
peated, sometimes for two or three hours. until
the victim, from oft-interrupted respiration
becomes 80 exhausted and filled with gases a.
to be unable to sink, and then it is easily
speared. Arrows five feet long, exquisitely
made and pointed with barbed pieces Of bone.
are shot at the prey whenever there is an oppor-
tunity, the regulation being that the game be-
longs to the man whose shaft strikes il first
PERIL OF HUNTING IN THE WINTER
But the kind Of hunting for sea offers that
requires pluck and endurance is done in the
winter, and the story of the perils and hard
ships encountered by those engaged in it, il it
we're told, would surpass in novelty and interest
the most attractive work of fiction. When the
fierce storm winds have blown themselves out,
the Aleuts in their frail boats scud down to the
outlying rocks about Saanach and Chernolours
where the creatures lie with their heads pushed
under beds Of kelp to avoid the fierce peiting of
the spray. Stealthily they creep upon the
animals from the leeward under cover of the
noise OF the tempest, each man armed with
short and heavy wooden club. by which thew
dispatch the victims one after another without
alarming the survivors. Two natives have been
known to slaughter seventy-eight in this
way within an hour and a half. The result
would have clothed and fed them for the rest
OF their lives, but the wealth was quickly
squandered.
'No other kind of hunting is 80 exhausting
and involves such exposure as this method of
chasing the sea otter, says Elliott For the
only times at which it can be followed are on
the eve of or just after tempests. when the
pounding of the surf with force like whirling
fine shot literally drives the animals to land
The hunter must be a man with hardy thews
and sinews, so that he can sit if necessary-and
he frequently does so-for forty-eight hours in
his shallow boat, and battle for life against the
furious gales, in order that he may not drift
out to certain death into the vast expanse Of
the great Pacific"
More than two-thirds Of all the sea offers
taken in Alaska are secured In the neizhborhood
of Saanach and Chernolours. Below the Straits
OF Fuca. In and about Gray's harbor is another
resort Of theirs, where they are shot from
porches on tall tripods forty feet high, on which
sharpshooters sit in wait for them and mark
them down with wonderful accuracy, often at a
distance Of 1000 wards. When it is considered
that only the head Of the animal is visible above
the water and that it is bobbing on the waves,
it will be seen what skill is required in this pur-
suit. When killed, the game floats ashore,
where it is picked up, each hunter having q
special mark on his bullets, SO that there shall
be no dispute as to proprietorship. The Attoo
Aleuts capture sea offers by spreading nets made
Of sinew or Irvine over the floating beds Of kelp
resorted to by the creatures. Returning after o
few days they often find several entangled in
the meshes. The beasts might easily gnaw
themselves free, but it does not occur to them
to do so. and they actually die Of fright. Nets
are also spread for the same purpose at the
mouths OF caves in bluffs at tidewash.
FAST BEING ExrERMINATEp.
Contact with civilization has taught the ma
tives to use powder and ball instead Of their
old time weapons in the chase of sea offers, and,
what with the inceSsant popping of rifles
wherever the animals make their appearance it
cannot be long before the last of them is killed
on the northwest coast and among the islands
of the Aleutian chain. Their natural habitat il
limited to those waters and to the neighbor-
hood Of the Kurile Island, north Of Japan, and
the kamschatkan shore. They go about Gus
tomarily in solitary pairs, though the young
ones sometimes gather in troops of forty or
fifty. The latter are born at all seasons of
the YEAR The sea otter has an ugly and even
repulsive physiognomy, with small, glittering
black eyes and little ears. One of its PECULIAR
ties is that its skin seems to be about twice the
size nece Ssary to cover its BODY, so that the
pelt when removed looks as if the beast that
wore it must have been six feet or more in
length The first process after taking off the
skin is TO remove the fat from it, and this is
very difficult on account Of the tough ibers by
which it Is interlaced
The destruction of this valuable species has
been due to indifference to its preservation on
the part of the government No vessels of the
revenue marine have been sent by the Treasury
Department to the northwest coast and Boring
sea for the purpose Of enforcing the existing
laws against the methods adopted for the ex-
termination Of the sea otter. Thus o marine
mammal more precious than the fur seal has
been nearly wiped out of existence, and the
only hope for it today would seem to lie in the
faint prospect that Congress may see fit to set
aside the islands OF Saanach and Chernolours
for a reservation where these creatures may be
guarded BY appointed keepers and protected
permanently from pursuit by hunters. Last
year only 800 sea otter skins were secured al
though rapid-Aying naphtha launches were
brought intOrequisition for securing the waters
the hunters employing explosive bullets. One
OF these hides, Of very unusual beauty, was
sold in New York city for ESQ.
A Strange Story OF Wound.
From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
1.-The war was responsible for many queer
things" said DR.. Eugene Hardcastle, q st. Paul
surgeon. now ut the Southern. ''Up in north
mr. Ivoo nxv1,>