Then the entrails are drawn out and passed through the
fingers of the left hand to remove the contents, and are afterward
braided and returned to the cavity of the stomach, and the slit drawn
together and pinned with a little ivory pin (too-bit-tow'-yer) made for
the purpose. The dog is allowed to lick the blood from the snow, but
gets no more for his share unless an opportunity occurs to help himself
when his master's back is turned. The trace is then attached to the
nose of the dead seal, which is thus dragged into camp by the faithful
dog, the hunter walking alongside urging the dog by his voice, and
occasionally assisting him over a drift or amid hummocky ice.
The seal in the early spring builds a habitation in the snow over and
around the hole through which it breathes, and here its young are born
and live until old enough to venture into the water. This house is
called an oglow, and is constructed very much like an Esquimau igloo in
shape, though it is more irregular and has ramifications that extend to
neighboring holes. These oglows are found with the assistance of dogs,
as previously described, or by prodding with a seal spear the hillocks
of snow that look like seals' houses. When a hunter finds an oglow
during the season that the young seals are living in them, he
immediately breaks in the roof with his heel in search of the little
one, which usually remains very quiet even when the hunter looks down
and pokes his head through the broken roof.
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