Thus stationed, with neither guns, bows, nor arrows, but with a number of small balls in their hands, connected with each other by strings from twelve to eighteen inches in length, they await the approach of their game. When the fowl are sufficiently near for their purpose, the natives rise up, and throw, with singular force and precision, these balls at the flock of passing ducks. At first, when these balls leave their hands, they are all together and compact; but with increasing distance, they will open and spread themselves to the extent of the strings by which they are tied together, and, by the time they get into the midst of the flock, they are fully extended; and then these balls, meeting with resistance, will twist around the necks, legs, and wings of the fowl, and bring them to the ground. The ducks are killed by the natives, not by cutting off their heads, or breaking their necks, but by pressing the foot upon them until they cease to breathe. AMUSEMENTS AMONG THE NATIVES. Dog races are favorite amusements among the natives. Their chief emulation appeared to be, who should possess the best dog team. He who beat in a race of several miles obtained a number of fathoms of walrus cord. These dog teams would sometimes contain as many as twenty dogs. At the time of a race, in which all the settlement was greatly interested, the head man would make a feast, and the most important article on the occasion would be seals' heads; and for some purpose, which they understood better than we did, they would put coals of fire, or brands, in the mouths of these heads. There was another kind of amusement in which they at times engaged. A circle was formed from twenty-five to fifty feet in diameter, and in this circle any number who chose might enter, and then commenced the race. He who could run the longest, and thus tire the others out, obtained the prize, whatever it might be. The head man of the settlement would sometimes get up a _woman's_ race, and they would run the distance with the greatest fleetness. She who won in the race secured beads, needles, combs, &c. Probably the most exciting of all their amusements was that of jumping. A large walrus skin was prepared with holes made in the border of it, as near as possible for the men to stand side by side, taking hold of the skin, lifting it up a foot and a half from the ground, and drawing it tight. An individual who wished to try his or her skill in jumping would get upon this skin. By his exertion, and that of the men who held up the skin, he would jump to a great height; and as he came down, he would meet the upward motion of the skin, which would cause a sudden rebound to the jumper. This process would continue until the individual who was trying his skill in jumping was brought down upon his knees, and then there would be a great shout and laughter. Another would then take his place upon the skin.