This duty being performed, he rubs himself all over with the blubber, then anoints his favourite wives, and thus prepared cuts his way through the blubber into the flesh or beef, the grain of which is about as firm as a goose-quill, of this he selects the nicest morsels, and either broils them on the fire or cooks them as kabobs by cutting them into small pieces and spitting them on a pointed stick.

By and bye other natives come gaily trooping in from all quarters:  by night they dance and sing, and by day they eat and sleep, and for days this revelry continues unchecked, until they at last fairly eat their way into the whale, and you see them climbing in and about the stinking carcase, choosing tit-bits.  In general the natives are very particular about not eating meat that is fly-blown or tainted, but when a whale is in question this nicety of appetite vanishes.  I attribute this to their disliking in the first instance to leave the carcase, and then gradually getting accustomed to its smell; but whatever may be the reason they remain by the carcase for many days, rubbed from head to foot with stinking blubber, gorged to repletion with putrid meat, out of temper from indigestion, and therefore engaged in constant frays, suffering from a cutaneous disorder by high feeding, and altogether a disgusting spectacle.  There is no sight in the world more revolting than to see a young and gracefully formed native girl stepping out of the carcase of a putrid whale.  When they at last quit their feast they carry off as much as they can stagger under, to eat upon the way, and to take as a rarity to their distant friends.

MODE OF KILLING SEALS AND WILD DOGS.

Killing seals is, from the habits of these animals, necessarily an exciting species of hunting in the southern and western portions of the continent.  It is only enjoyed by the natives when they can surprise a seal upon the beach or in the surf, or when they swim off to some of the small rocky islands which are connected with the main by reefs, and are at no great distance from it; they are themselves fond of this sport, and the clambering about the wild rocks of their native shore, at one time leaping from rock to rock, spearing fish that lie in the quiet pools, in the next moment dashing into the boisterous surf to spear a large fish, to battle with a seal, or to turn a turtle, cannot but be an exhilarating occupation; and when to this we add that their steps are followed by a wife and children, as dear to them as ours are to us, who are witnesses of their agility and prowess, and who, when the game is killed, will help to light the fire in which it is to be cooked, and drag it to the resting-place, where the father romps with the little ones until the meal is prepared, and that all this takes place in a climate so mild and genial that a house is not necessary, we shall perhaps the less wonder that it should be so difficult to induce a savage to embrace the customs of civilized life.