The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-05-06

Elder Duck
An Interesting Description of Fowl
of the Arctic Ocean
and Vicinity.
81 never saw so many wild ducks in
all my life as there are around here"
said one of my ship mates. "Why, the
air is black with them" And such was
the case. Thousands of ducks were
seen daily of which / know the names
of but three, namely, the quail, SO CALI
ed on account of its size and re, en-
blanc to the quail. The squaw duck
and last of all the famous elder duck,
the most beautiful and most valuable
of all. None of these ducks seems to
have any fear at the approach of a boat
or ship for when fired upon they fly a
short distance, then take to the water
again. Like all the other food in the
Arctic they lave very strong flavor
and are best suited to the taste by be-
ing stewed aud served with vinegar.
The vinegar has tendency to remove
the strong wild flavor. These ducks
were brought on our ship by the hun
dreds and the purchase price was one
hardtack each. The natives seemed
well pleased to receive this small ex-
change.
1t is almost impossible to pluck these
ducks as the feathers remain very firm
ly fixed to the hide. The proper way
to handle these ducks is as follows: Cut
off the head. wings and feet, then insert
a knife under the skin at the neck and
force the knife to the tail. By grasp
ing the skin on both sides of the breast
the whole covering comes off easily.
You practically skin them. The duck
is also protected from cold by about
one-quarter to one-half inch of fat.
Now when say that the skins with all
the eithers on are used for clothing l
speak the truth. The most beautiful
coat and vest ever saw was made from
the skins of these ducks. The vest was
made out of scalps of the elder duck,
which resemble fur more than feathers,
and was the prettiest piece of work l
ever saw in that line. Many of the
Russian natives wore nothing but these
duck-skin coats. You can imagine
about how one looked clothed in a snit
of # fathers.
The various ways the natives have
in hunting these ducks are interesting
and l shall endeavor to show you some
Of the ways they we're hunted before
the gun was known to them. A certain
specie Of these ducks is called divers,
as they dive Instead of fly ing at the ap-
proach of boat or ship. This is the
way the natives catch item: A kyak
is used in which three natives are en-
barked, two who do the padding and
one who Kills the ducks, The latter
places himself in the bow of the boat
armed only with sort of wooden pad
die. He dire cts the boat to where a
bunch of these divers is located
When the boat is close enough an ex'
ira quick move on the part of the oars.
men sends the boat among the bunch
which at once dives. One duck il
singled out as they can easily be seer
under water. The hunter with the pad
die keeps few feet behind one of ths
ducks under the water and when il
comes to the surface it is hit with tn,
paddle and killed. 1t is primitive hunt
ing sure.
Thea again-the natives usel to hav,
a weapon of this description: ten o.
twelve pieces of deer thong about tw,
or three feet in length. The ends O
these thongs were fastened together b,
tying them into knot and on the othe
end of each thong stone of roun,
shape was fastened. The native whirle,
this about his head then hurled i
, among a flock of ducks. 1t was sur
to be the means Of securing few duck
, at least. A weapon of this sort is al,
used or was used to hunt the Ostrich
Along the coast during the summe
months one can find thousands of thes
! wild ducks and gulls' eggs and the
are very fine eating. The eggs ar