with the flowing night-tide; and the object so eagerly and patiently sought for is at last stealthily appropriated by some skulking savage.

Notwithstanding their propensity to purloin, the Indians of the north-west coast not only occasionally shoot the sea otter as do the whites, but in the months of July and August, when calm weather prevails, they capture them by night. A small canoe is chosen for the purpose and the implement used is a spear of native make composed of bone and steel, fitted to a long pole by a socket. Four chosen men make the crew for the canoe.

Near the close of the day a sharp watch is kept on any band of the animals that may have been in view from the shore and their position accurately defined before beginning the pursuit. All being in readiness, as the shade of evening approaches, they launch upon the calm sea, and three men paddle in silence toward the place where the objects of pursuits were seen, while the fourth takes his station in the bow -who is either a chief or some one distinguished in the chase-watches intently for the sleeping otters. As soon as one is descried the canoe is headed for it, and when within reach the spear is launched into the unwary creature, which, in its efforts to escape, draws the spear from the pole, but is not freed yet (as there is a small strong line connecting the spear and pole together, although permitting them to separate a few feet). It dives deep, but with great effort, as the unwieldly pole greatly retards its progress. The keen-eyed savage, however, traces its course in the blinding darkness. by the phosphorescent light caused by the animal's transit through the water, and when it rises upon the surface to breathe is beat with clubs, paddles, or, perhaps another spear, and is finally despatched after repeated blows or thrusts. The conflict arouses the whole band which instantly disappear, so that it is seldom that more than one is secured. As soon as the hunt is over the animal is brought on shore, the skin taken off and stretched to dry, and when

ready for market the lucky owner considers himself enriched to the value of ten or fifteen blankets. The flesh of the otter is eagerly devoured by the Indians as a choice article of food. The mode of capture between Point Granville and the Aleutian Islands varies with the different native tribes inhabiting that coast.

About the Aleutian Islands, the natives, dressed in their water-proof garments made from the intestines of seals, wedge themselves into their bidarkas (which are constructed with a light wooden frame, and covered with walrus or seal skins), and as it were plunge through the surf that dashes high among the crags, and with almost instinctive skill reach the less turbulent ground swell that heaves in every direction. Once clear of the rocks, however, the hunters watch intently for the otters. The first man that gets near to one darts his spear, then throws up his paddle by way of signal; all the other boats form a circle around him at some distance; the wounded animal dives deeply, but soon returns to the surface near some one of the boats forming the circle; again the hunter that is near enough hurls his spear and elevates his paddle, and again the ring is formed as before. In this wise the chase is continued till the capture is made. As soon as the animal is brought on shore the two oldest hunters examine it, and the one whose spear is found nearest its head is entitled to the prize. The number of sea otters taken annually is not definitely known, but from the most authentic information we can obtain the aggregate is two thousand six hundred; valuing the skins at fifty dollars each, amounts to the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.

Whether these most valuable fur animals have decreased in numbers within the few past years is questionable. The hunting of them on the coast of California is no longer

These "bidarkas, or skin-boats," are from twelve to eighteen feet long, according as they may be made for one or two persons, the greatest width being about thirty inches, and depth seventeen inches. In these frail crafts the natives go from Onilaski to Sanak Islands to hunt the sea otter, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles.

profitable for more than two or three hunters, and we believe of late, some seasons have passed without any one engaging in the enterprise; notwithstanding off Point Granville, which is an old hunting ground, sixty otters were taken by only three hunters during the summer of 1868, a great annual increase over many past years.

It is said that the Russian American Company restricted the number taken yearly by the Aleutian Islanders-from whom the chief supply was obtained-in order to perpetuate the stock. Furthermore may it not be that these sagacious animals have fled from those places on the coasts of the Californias, where they were so constantly pursued, to some more isolated haunt, and now remain unmolested.

FALCONRY.

BY WILLAM WOOD, M.D.

As Falconry, before the discovery of gunpowder and firearms, was a favorite amusement of the kings and nobles all over Europe, and as it is even to the present day among the Turks in some parts of Asia Minor; among the Persians, the Circassians, the wandering hordes of Tartars and Turcomans, and as it forms one of the chief sports of some of the native princes of India, and is not unknown in the northern provinces of China, and among several other barbarous or half-civilized countries, it may not be uninteresting to my readers to know in what estimation it has been held. I will not in this article give any account of the manner of training falcons; suffice it to say that they were taught to fly at the game and capture it, and come at call. It required months, and sometimes years, to train them properly.

Hawking was not unknown to the Romans in the early

part of the christian era, but was first introduced into England from the north of Europe during the fourth century. In 920 the Emperor Henry was called the fowler on account of his great fondness for the sport. In the eleventh century when Canute, king of Denmark and Norway, ascended the English throne, the amusement became more and more prevalent. After the ascension of William of Normandy to the English throne, none but persons of the highest rank were allowed to keep hawks. The killing of a deer, or boar, or even a hare by a serf, was punished with the loss of the delinquent's eyes, when the killing of a man could be atoned for by paying a moderate sum. In the twelfth century this was the favorite recreation of all the kings and nobles of Europe. "It was thought sufficient for noblemen's sons to wind the horn, and to carry their hawk fair, and leave study and learning to the children of meaner people." A German writer, about the year 1485, complains that "the gentry used to take the hawks and hounds to church with them, disturbing the devotions of those religiously inclined, by the screams and yells of the birds and beasts." This diversion was in so high esteem all over Europe, that Frederic, one of the emperors of Germany, thought it not beneath him to write a treatise on hawking. In 1481, in the reign of Richard III, Juliana Berners, sister of Lord Berners, and prioress of the nunnery of Sapewell, wrote a tract on falconry, which was loudly applauded by her cotemporaries, and became what Hoyle has on games, -a standard treatise. In 1615 and 1619, two works on the same subject were published in London, the former, by Gervase Markham, the latter, by Edmund Bert.

In the thirteenth century the arbitrary law of William, then Duke of Normandy, was somewhat modified by King John, "allowing every freeman to have his eyries of hawks, falcons, etc., in his own woods." In the fourteenth century, Edward III, of England, made it felony to steal a hawk, or take the eggs, and "punished the offender by imprisonment

for one year and one day, together with a fine, at the king's pleasure." Any person finding a hawk was to carry it to the sheriff of the county, who was immediately to cause a proclamation to be made in all the principal towns in the county (each falcon had a ring put around his leg with the owner's name engraved on it, and a small bell was suspended from the neck of the bird so that it might be discovered when lost in the chase). Any attempt of the finder to conceal or appropriate it was to be punished the same as stealing. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the imprisonment was reduced to three months, but the culprit was to lie in prison "till he got security for his good behavior for seven years."

The dignitaries of the church even indulged in the sport, and the poet Chaucer represents them as being more learned in hunting than in divinity. During the middle ages a European showed his rank by having a hawk on his fist, and when he died the bird was generally carved on his monument. Among the Welsh princes the king's falconer was the fourth officer in the state; yet he was "forbidden to take more than three drams of beer from his horn lest he should get drunk and neglect his duty." The grand falconer of France had four thousand florins per annum, was allowed three hundred hawks, and had fifty gentlemen and fifty attendants to follow him. He rode out with the King on all great occasions.

Sir Thomas

The prices paid for falcons were enormous. Monson paid five thousand dollars for a pair. In Persia the gerfalcon of Russia is not allowed to be kept by any person except the king, and each bird is valued at fifteen hundred crowns. Hawks were sent as royal tokens from kings to kings, and formed a customary present from the sovereign to the embassador of a friendly power. In more ancient times they were bequeathed as valuable and honorable legacies, with the injunction, "that the legatee should behave kindly and dutifully by the said bird."