Early in
the morning each Eskimo would take up his position near one of these
breathing holes, and there, with spear poised, not moving so much as a
foot, sometimes for hours at a time, await patiently the appearance of
a seal, which, having many similar holes, might not chance to come to
this particular one the whole day.
The spear used had a long, wooden handle, with a barbed point made of
metal or ivory, and so arranged that the barbed point came off the
handle after it had been driven into the animal. To the point was
fastened one end of a long sealskin line, the other end of which the
hunter tied about his waist.
The moment a seal's nose made its appearance at the breathing hole the
watchful Eskimo drove the spear into its body. Then began a tug of war
between man and seal, and sometimes the Eskimos had narrow escapes
from being pulled into the holes.
The seals of Labrador, it should be explained, are the hair, and not
the fur seals such as are found in the Alaskan waters and the South
Sea. There are five varieties of them, the largest of which is the
hood seal and the smallest the doter or harbour seal. The square
flipper also grows to a very large size. The other two kinds are the
jar and the harp.
These all have different names applied to them according to their age.
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