If it
is hit anywhere else it almost invariably escapes the hunter, though it
may not escape death. Often the hunter reaches the hole in time to
seize his prey by the hind flipper just as it is passing down into the
water. I remember standing and gazing mournfully down into a hole one
day through which a seal that I had shot had just escaped, though his
blood tinged the water and edges of the ice, and while I was lamenting
my ill-luck I heard a splash behind me and turned in time to see the
seal come up through another hole. He looked awfully sick, and didn't
see me until I had him by the flipper, sprawling on his back, at a safe
distance from the hole. This was quite good luck for me, for such an
opportunity rarely occurs, though I have occasionally known Toolooah to
recover a lost one in the same way.
When struck with a spear they seldom escape, for the line is fastened
to the side of the spear-head, which detaches itself from the staff and
holds in the flesh like a harpoon. Sometimes, however, the seal will
slip away after the spear is thrown, and, instead of striking him, it
strikes the ice where he had been lying. This is very aggravating after
the cold and tedious labor of working up upon it has been accomplished;
but the Esquimau bears his misfortune with equanimity. It is seldom
that he says more than "ma-muk'-poo now" (no good), or "mar-me an'-ner"
(which means "angry," or is an expression used when one is angry).
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