Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-03-08
DANGEROUS SHOOTING.
Clubs More Reliable Than Guns in
Hunting tho Seal,
'he wonderful frt,; of NI4>ir On tbs
11mid Animals ,tr,n IIurters
barrow Es'spe from HcinE
Torn t. li.tC.

seale arc vor. f'ua - .,-.,'. a'.l 80
1ullN "f'.I .-l.,,- fl-,. { e.. ,l.,. ..~.,-:i.
instrument :" ..'.:a-' 'i,:. f.. !
Sea. llu'.' 81 -. !.-a-..,. ...A.5~ =
writer II. tIu' H., I,.-,.-.;..- 90 /. Ism.
tur'' NJ. >,.:i.~. fEl4ri. q .-.u fr..t,.: =
cauEcr"t~ wvar.l. The Yar- clipped:
SLOW - E:.r,4 ..,- ",r- t.... ..t.
th' cave. ana -. t.u'urn ..' .r
unison i weird. MI! ~..i.l- lii a..... -
uhGrr'0I.'. T. :!,. WRITER t...- >..,;....,i
a curious acenn.p..i. .Is.v!.t {" Il seal
hunt. bat he Wa stu! ::..:c eurlr.~,si
wh"r. oil" IF thu men pr,~.u,,., =. Hut
anu r.a| ci on il 4 quaint. 8, :..p:st.ic;.c
ar. t"at echoed ana rc-,,..",,. a,.rl.t
tn caves The musical effects >>vre
Inarv"I"u>; hut our author turir-t ~
g i'r!"n and asked: ~ nat J. tie
meaning Of all this" "OA. u j. To- al
tract the seals. In frs min,,,, t,u
W.! see them ha>k;l un tar Wat,r
and on the hedges, 81. ru... almost e
unc"nsciouSnc>s byt music"
And SO it happened for unGrrica.ii.
on AN easy ledge" % ~a,v -" eri!~
scramble up and lie quietly listening,
Now Is our tine, -;..,l q ia II. land
the hoatmen gently ''',r! tpHard thr
Fascinated seals. t"c Lutc-r.aycr >till
continuing las tune.
Without gun or spear my friend
Hprang Ia the r"c.:y ledge. He had
with him only a blud.r,r,l and 4 hong
knife. N"i~r!r>>ll advAiIc ny upon TIE
Seals he dealt "r, 81 iAc;n 4 blow: On
the nose ard fh,, lid forward and
killed !; with his knife. Thus our first
capture was made.
"Why not shoot the poor brutes, and
So end the affair" asked.
o'l:ricn laughed. My dear sir, he
replied. 1t is impossible. will prove
1t I" y"u. You have Your rifle with
you. Well, the next time We meet a
seal I will allow You to do the work
with powder and ball, and we shall See
how you fare"
Then we Went over TO Carrigduff and
endeavorcd with music to invciglc 9TH
er seals And we were rewarded, for
lar within the great cave" there APP
peared splendid male. much larger
than those we had before Sccn--not a
common seal, but one of the large,
bearded seals. lie was. to all appear
ance, unconscious of our approach.
The flute player continued his tune,
and the oars pushed the waters as
noiselessly as possible until We were
within few yards of the game.
Now, try your gum" whispered
O'Brien.
climbed out of the yawl and got
close to the seal. I feared to get too
close, lest l should brighten him off the
ledge, SO l rested against the Shiny
rock, and. taking careful aim at point
between his shoulders, fired.
The din was awful. 1t seemed as il
the little island were being blown to
pieces by some m odern battery. l be-
came aware, too soon, that my shot
had not killed the animal, and that by
q series of curious spine-made move
ments he had come close to me and
caught my ankle in his powerful jaws.
l nearly fell. l was too fear-stricken
to cry out.
All this happened in moment. I
felt my ankle crunch as though the
foot would come off. AS swiftly az
possible l reloaded. I could scarcely
see the brute that held my ankle, SO
blinded was l from pain. And could
not understand why it was that
O'Brien had not come to my rescue.
But there was no time to spare.
must lose my leg or kill the seal.
Placing the muzzle of the rife
against what seemed to be the shout
der of the seal. i fired. The hold on
my ankle relaxed for an instant; then
came a more angry bite on the thick
part of my leg, and l became conscious
of some one near me. A dull blow
sounded, and tainted.
1t appears that O'Brien, who was
looking on all the while, clambered on
the rock where was engaged with the
seal and with blow of his bludgeon
ended the battle. In all likelihood he
saved me from death.