SEAL-HUNTING FROM KAYAKS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 98, 19 January 1935, Page 15

SEAL-HUNTING FROM KAYAKS

Exciting Arctic Pastime

GREENLAND EXPEDITION LOSES LEADER

Possibly the most exciting sport known, but one that is denied to most people, is seal-hunting from the kayak, the light Eskimo canoe made of a framework of wood covered over with sealskins. The fragile nature of the kayak causes it to overturn easily, consequently it is necessary to develop a special technique to right it when this happens. This is known as the roll. The kayak is about 18 feet long and only as many inches in width. The entrance• is by a circular hole amidships through which a man can barely force his hips. When wearing a waterproof sealskin coat which fits tightly

over the raised rim of the manhole and ties round the face and wrists, the skilful hunter can roll his kayak right round in the water, only getting his face wet.

This rolling consists of letting the kayak go over till it is right upside down, then, with a special movement of the paddle, or even of the head alone, com-

ing up again on the other side. It is necessary to learn to roll the kayak before venturing out alone 1 ; indeed expert hunters, owing to the extreme instability of the kayak, occasionally find themselves overturned in the water.

In summer, when seals are plentiful in the Arctic the only way they are to be secured is from the kayak. In the autumn or winter, when they have plenty of blubber, they will float when shot, but in the summer, when the seals are thinner, and when there is a greater proportion of fresh water in the fjords, they will invariably sink. To capture seals in summer the Eskimos usually stun or blind the seal with a shot gun, and then harpoon it from a kayak when it is floundering about in the water. If the seal is playing on the surface of the water, or sleeping, a clever hunter, crouching down behind the white cotton screen on his kayak, can paddle near enough to harpoon the seal without the use of gun or rifle. Type of Harpoon Used.

The type of harpoon used, about seven feet long, has a detachable head, from which runs a sealskin thong 16 yards or so in length to the kayak-stand—a wooden tray in front of the hunter — where it is neatly coiled. It is thrown by means of a flat piece of wood about two feet in length which acts as a lever, or extension of the arm, but remains in the hand after the harpoon is thrown. When harpooning a seal one tries to manoeuvre the kayak so that the seal is 10 or 15 feet from the hunter and well to the right of the kayak. As the harpoon is raised for the throw, the point, which, while on deck pointed to the back, now points at the quarry; As the harpoon flies through the air the line runs freelv from the tray and the hunter makes a few rapid ,strokes with his paddle to move the kayak to the left to avoid beiqg capsized by the fighting seal. As the head of the harpoon enters the seal it breaks from the shaft to lessen the strain, but is still attached by the sealskin thong. As the line continues to run opt the hunter grasps one of the thongs which hold the float to the kayak and throws it far out to the side so that as the seal dives the kayak will not be overturned. Then, if the seal is dead, the float will prevent it from sinking, and if only wounded the float will cheek its escape and will direct the hunter to the path of its flight. Once the seal is attached to the float the hunter can then dispatch it with the metal-headed lance which is kept on the kayak deck behind him. The Eskimos do not as a rule hunt alone in kayaks, not only because of the inherent danger of solitary hunting, but because two or more hunters are usually more able to capture a seal. Leader of Expedition-

It had always been imagined that Europeans would not Ibe able to manage the kayak, certainly not to the extent of being aible to secure seals from them. But Gino Watkins, leader of a Greenland expedition engaged in meteorological observations in connection with the Arctic air route, seeing the Eskimos doing this, thought it possible for himself and the members of the expedition to learn also. With his amazing versatility, he soon became the best hunter among them, learning to roll his kayak with his throw stick, and eventually with his hand alone.

The art of kayakjng is one soon lost. Consequently members of the expedition had practised it in England before setting out. Even then It was necessary for them to practise further when they arrived at Greenland. Watkins, however, could rival the Eskimos in a kayak. When the ship of the French Polar Year Expedition, the Pourquoi Pas, came into Scoresfoy Sound he went out to meet it in his kayak. The Frenchmen. taking him in his sealskin coat for an Eskimo, made signs for him to roll his kayak, which he did with such skill that they still thought he was a native, and were more |Jian surprised when he hailed them in French.

When the expedition was setting up its base Watkins would go out alone in his kayak to bring in seals for food. Even the Eskimos became alarmed at his being alone, but Watkins seemed to prefer to be without company when on his hunting expeditions. One afternoon one of his companions saw a kayak floating upside down withl- - an occupant. There was a paddle 150 yards away. The gloves were pushed in under the fixed seal-line on the deck, the gun was missing, the harpoon loaded up, but held in position by a strap of ivory beads. There was no sign of Watkins. He was not seen again. Accident a Mystery. It was difficult to explain the cause of the accident. Perhaps he had his rifle out to shoot something apd shot too much on one side, or an iceberg collapsed nearby, or he wounded a bladder-nosed seal which subsequently attacked him. He may have got out to a bit of ice to relieve cramp : n his legs, to shoot a seal or to arrange something on his kayak, and then the floe upset of itself or a lump of ice fell off the glacier. This may have carried bis kayak off. and he may have «wam after it, then returned to the floe, for his trousers and kayak belt were later found, soaking wet, on a floe of ice. More probably he was tipp-d into the water together with the kayak, and then, fearing cramp, returned to the floe instead of first recovering his kayak.

At all events, another hero of the Arctic was dead, and the 1932 expedition deprived of its leader just at the commencement of its activities. How the expedition subsequently fared is told by Mr. Spencer Chapman in the history of its activities—in simple language, and with a sincere expression of opinion, he captures again the atmosphere in which the primitive people of Greenland spend their lives.

“Watkins’ Last Voyage,” by F. Spencer Chapman. (London: Chatto and Windus.)