Chapter 1343 Hunting Seal (2/2)
Li Du shrugged as well. In any case, it was good enough to have something fresh and warm to eat.
The deer meat was pretty good. The other sorts of meat did not taste very special. Some of them did not have much fat and were tough and stringy.
Li Du asked, ”What kind of meat is this?”
The answer was that it was wolf meat. It was a dish that the Nganasan would prepare for their distinguished guests. As Arctic wolves were rare, they were only able to capture a few each year.
A Nganasan man came over with his bowl and made an inquiry. Big Ivan said, ”He's asking if you're not used to the food. Some people do not like to eat wolf meat.”
Li Du said, ”Help me convey my thanks for his concern. I'm fine with it.”
Sophie looked at the fatty meat in her bowl and said with a distressed look, ”But I'm not. Come, honey, you can have this.”
”What meat is this?”
”Might be seal or herring. The fat content is very high. This is the favorite for all Nganasan women. That's because they need to replenish their fat stores,” Big Ivan said.
Sophie shook her head. ”They are too kind. I don't need to replenish any fat stores.”
Other than sprinkling some salt, the Nganasan did not use other condiments. Due to the lack of seasoning, the taste of food depended solely on the ingredients themselves.
For example, the taste of the wolf meat was fine and had some gamey aroma. Seal meat was a different matter. After cooking, those gave off a fishy, oily scent and did not taste good.
Living in such extreme conditions, the Nganasan, other than eating and resting, spent the rest of the time working. The women would tend to the households look after the reindeer while the men took the older children to hunt.
The weather had not changed for the better. In fact, the wind started to blow strongly and hence, Li Du and his people were unable to set off. Therefore, they decided to stay temporarily in the campsite of the Nganasan.
They did not have anything to do and hence when they saw the Nganasan gathering to go hunting, they followed.
Big Ivan communicated with the men and returned. He said, ”They are going to fish and hunt for seals. Are we going too?”
Li Du said, ”There's nothing else to do. It's better to join them and just spend some time doing something.”
Again, they took the reindeer sleighs. The group changed their route and headed for the seaside.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
As the cold wind blew, the sea turned rough. One wave after another slapped onto the ice with a mighty roar.
Along the coastline, at a distance, the first of the sleighs came to a stop. A big man collected his tools and got down. Then he started to chat with his companion.
Big Ivan translated, ”There are a bunch of ringed seals ahead. They are planning to hunt down a few of them to bring back.”
The men started to collect their tools. Soutar Nasang walked over and gave them some warnings. He said that the seals were no easy targets and that they should not provoke them.
Li Du agreed and checked out the surroundings. He saw that there were some greyish-white seals lounging on the icebergs and reefs by the sea. Those would be their prey.
The waves on the sea were huge. The seals started to get onshore. The Nganasan gathered to watch. They were not anxious and waited patiently for the seals to get closer.
One strong wave after another slapped on the reefs. The seals felt uncomfortable and cold and continued to climb further onto the shore. They wanted to avoid the cold and the waves.
Seeing that, the Nganasan started to get into action.
They had brought along chisels and some daggers. When the seals began to approach, they went to use the chisels to break apart some of the ice layers. They stuck their daggers and chisels in between the shards.
Then, they poured seawater into the ice holes. At the moment, the temperature was far below freezing point. It did not take long for the water to turn into ice. The daggers then looked like sharp icebergs that protruded from the ground.