Page:The white czar; a story of a polar bear (IA whiteczarstoryof00hawk).pdf/134

 were also young seals. They were much surprised to discover Whitie there ahead of them. He was lying in the lee of a rock and was eating something. As they came near, they discovered that it was a seal pup. So even this early he was plying the trade of a full grown polar bear, and killing the young seals.

Oumauk was very indignant and scolded Whitie severely, but Eiseeyou explained to him that this was the way of nature, that the larger fish ate the smaller, all the way down the scale.

The inhabitants of Eskimo Village always saw a great deal of the seals during their summers, so little Oumauk learned all about them. Some of this information he gleaned from watching them himself, but much of it was told him by his father.

He learned that the seals came to the rookeries to breed in May, when for a few weeks it was unlawful to kill them. But in June they were mating again, and each bull seal would select a dozen lady seals for the summer. During this season of court-