124 : Indians Obtaining Game. 
the Eskimo in a peculiar manner, which is also practised by the 
Eskimo north of Hudson’s Bay. A piece of whalebone about eight 
inches long, and of the size of a flattened lead pencil sharpened at 
both ends, is soaked in water until it is thoroughly softened. It is 
then bent on itself in folds about an inch long, and is tied in this 
position until it is thoroughly dry. The cord is then removed and 
the coil retains its position. It is then covered about an inch thick 
with tallow and laid out for the wolf to find. The latter picks up 
the morsel of fat containing the whalebone, and not being able to 
chew it, gulps it down entire. Ina short time the juices and warmth 
of the animal’s stomach act upon the whalebone and it slowly straight- 
ens out and the sharp points transfix the stomach, and if they do not 
enter the heart and lungs and produce death at once they cause the © 
animal such agony that he lies down and becomes an easy prey for 
the hunter who follows his trail.’’ 
There is an Alaskan bird sling in the Academy collection which is 
quite similar to a form described by Wood, Knight, and others. It 
consists of ten small pieces of ivory, each of which is pierced and 
fastened by a string about thirty inches long. On the other end of 
each string is a slender quill five or six inches long, and all of the 
quills are bound together with sennet. 
The above, though it does not exhaust the subject, proves that 
the Indians of this coast were very ingenious in capturing birds 
-¢@ 
and animals, and some of them were equally ingenious in catching ~ 
fish. The Washoe Indians are very successful is spearing trout 
when the fish run upstream to spawn. They build huts of boughs 
over brooks, the fisherman being able to see the fish just below him 
from the dark interior of the hut, while the fish cannot see the fisher- 
man. About forty years ago, when the writer was in Bering Straits 
and the Arctic Ocean, the favorite recently adopted harpoon of 
American whalemen—the so called toggle iron—was modelled after 
an Eskimo bone harpoon used by the natives about the Straits. 
——<- 
The white water lily mentioned in the Botany of California as 
occurring about the head-waters of Eel River has been definitely 
located by Mrs. E. C. Campbell, who obtained roots from a Mr. 
Crabtree, living a few miles from Bartlett Springs. No flowering 
specimens have yet been seen by botanists. 
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