The Colonel described the whale fishery as practiced by the Kamchadales and Aleutians.

These natives have harpoons with short lines to which they attach bladders or skin bags filled with air.

A great many boats surround a whale and stick him with as many harpoons as possible.

If successful, they will so encumber him that his strength is not equal to the buoyancy of the bladders, and in this condition he is finished with a lance.

A great feast is sure to follow his capture, and every interested native indulges in whale-steak to his stomach's content.
[Illustration: ALEUTIANS CATCHING WHALES.] The day before we came in sight of land, my dog repeatedly placed his fore feet upon the rail and sniffed the wind blowing from the coast.
His inhalations were long and earnest, like those of a tobacco smoking Comanche.