mss142-vasilevShishmarev-i3-055

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pole, we found a codfish on every hook. The catch was so abundant that fish were cooked daily for the crew, and, in
addition, eight barrels of it were salted.

During our stay on Unalaska, a dead whale, killed by
an Umnak Aleut, was thrown up on Amaknak Island, determined
by the arrow, on which every whale hunter cuts his work, still
sticking under its left fin. He was immediately notified of
it, and arrived the next day in company of many baidars for
the division, because half of every animal used at that place
(except for the skin, which is always the property of the Com-
pany) also belongs to [the Company]. The Aleuts use the meat
of whale, sea lion, seal, and sea otter for food, especially
the first mentioned. They also eat the fat, using it as a
condiment, but mostly burn it instead of candles and wood in
their yurts.

No matter how expert the Aleuts are in sailing baidars
and in shooting arrows, whale hunting is done by only a small
number of them because it requires special agility and skill.
From accounts, they kill them in the following manner. On a
clear sunny day when the whales sun themselves and play on the
surface, the whale hunter puts out to the open sea in his
small baidar. Sighting a whale, he approaches it exclusively
from the left side to about 50 paces, that is, to the distance
from which he can shoot an arrow, designated, as already men-
tioned, by his mark. It is one and one-half arshins long.
In one end, one foot long, is inserted a [piece] of walrus