The young seal is then
easily killed with the spear and dragged out on the ice, and the hunter
waits for the mother, which is never absent a long time from its baby.
The young seal is generally cut open as soon as killed, and its little
stomach examined for milk, which is esteemed a great luxury by the
Esquimaux. When young, the seal is covered with long, white hair, very
much like coarse wool. This skin was at one time very much used in
making clothing, but lately has not been much in vogue among the
natives, though occasionally coats and trousers of this material may
still be seen. The whalers esteem it highly as an adjunct to woollen
clothing, as being sufficiently warm for those who are living on
shipboard, yet not so warm as reindeer clothing, which becomes
oppressive in high temperature.
The older seals have short, smooth hair, of a yellowish-gray color,
with large black spots on the back, which become smaller and less
frequent on the sides, and disappear entirely before reaching the
belly. The finest quality of seal-skin in the eastern North American
waters, which are devoid of fur seal, is that of the kos-se-gear, or
fresh-water seal, which is found at or near the mouths of nearly all
rivers emptying into the sea. This species of seal is marked very
much like the common seal (net-chuk), except that the spots are of a
more positive and a glossier black, while the body color is whiter,
making a more decided contrast.
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