INNUIT CHARACTER, CUSTOMS, ETC.
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breathing-hole, which is covered by snow. Above it sits an Innuit, who has pierced the snow with his spear just over the
NO. 2, SECTIONAL VIEW OF SEAL HOLE.
seal's hole in the ice, and who watches till he hears the animal puff, then quickly and almost unerringly strikes.[1]
- ↑ The water, ice, and snow of the second engraving are represented in like manner as in the preceding one. The appearance of the seal hole, and the bed of snow above, as they are during the winter season till about the 1st of April, is well represented. The sealer is awaiting the seal's blow. It is time he was up and ready to strike, for as soon as a seal has its nose out of the water, as the one here represented, its puffing noise is heard. When the sealer, by the aid of his dog, has found the seal hole, he has sometimes to watch there two or three days and nights. The dog has indicated the precise point within a circle of about ten inches in diameter. The sealer, therefore, thrusts the spindle of his seal-spear down through the hard snow, seeking to find the breathing-hole, which is not more than one to two inches in diameter. After perhaps a dozen attempts, he finally strikes the hole. Now he carefully withdraws his spear, and marks with his eye the hole, which leads down
