In the month of March, mother seals prepare long burrows in the snow, and here the Eskimo finds the baby seal, which is dragged forth by means of a large hook; the mother, too, is often caught or harpooned because of her courage in attempting to save her young. Perhaps these methods of hunting appear to be somewhat cruel, but it is to be remembered that the Eskimo is constantly fighting hard to sustain life in a severe and inhospitable climate. On some occasions the hunter finds only the skin of a young seal in one of these burrows; the foxes have arrived first and devoured the carcase. With the advance of summer the young seal breaks from its snow burrow, and, until the end of June, the mother and her calf may be seen basking together on the ice, where they are shot or harpooned by the hunter, who, clad in seal skin, can approach to very close range. Many men still prefer a harpoon to the guns which may be obtained from whalers in exchange for skins, but nowadays the head of the harpoon is usually made of iron, which is more effective than sharpened ivory. This method of stalking the seal may produce a bag of from ten to fifteen animals in a day, whereas the winter tactics rarely result in the capture of more than one animal even after twelve hours of weary waiting by the breathing hole. When the ice breaks, “kayaks” are launched, and the summer hunting of the seal and walrus is soon in full swing. The double pointed canoe, which is widely distributed between the shores of Greenland and Alaska, consists of a stout framework of wood and whalebone, twenty-five feet long, over which are stretched seal skins, sewn firmly together with the sinews of reindeer. The top is covered by skin, with the exception of a small hole just large enough to accommodate a man’s body; a double paddle serves to propel the craft, which is, of course, provided with a large harpoon when used for pursuing a seal or walrus. [Illustration: A KAYAK.] Sometimes a framework covered with skin is attached to the harpoon line in such a way that when the cord is paid out the broad framework is dragged through the sea at right angles to the line. How great is the resistance of the water to such a device may be illustrated by holding the edge of a piece of board while dragging it in water. Of course a wounded animal is quickly exhausted by towing this apparatus rapidly through the sea. An explorer named Lyon has left a very interesting account of one method adopted by hunters of the walrus: