28 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Feb. 



of which were walls or fences formed of logs and brush. At the time 

 of a drive all available men and women would make a wide semicircle 

 about antelope or other game that might be in the region and, shouting 

 and continually closing in, would drive the animals to the narrow apex 

 of the run or corral, where hidden hunters easily killed the bewildered 

 game. * 



While antelope, deer, bear and other large game formed scarcely 

 more than an occasional source of sustenance among the Gosiutes, the 

 jack-rabbit, exceedingly abundant throughout the region, was highly 

 important to them and was regularly a chief dependence in fall and 

 winter for meat, raiment and blankets. After a hunt the meat was 

 dried and preserved, while the skins were dressed and largely twisted 

 into fur ropes. These fur ropes were then bound together to form 

 blankets or articles of clothing which were very warm and serviceable. 

 It was the custom to hold great rabbit hunts or drives every fall. In 

 these drives the entire tribe engaged and were sometimes joined by 

 neighboring bands. The common procedure was to construct of 

 sage-brush, greasewood or other convenient material a great V-shaped 

 run similar to the one described in the preceding paragraph, but of 

 course with lower and tighter walls. At the apex was a hole leading 

 into an underground passage covered or roofed with a hide. The 

 hares were surrounded and driven into the enclosure by the co-opera- 

 tion of men, women and children. As the hares reached the apex of 

 the enclosure they would run into the covered passage, from which 

 they were taken by men stationed for the purpose. Sometimes the 

 hares were merely driven into the heap of brush, where, bewildered 

 and impeded, they were readily killed by means of clubs. 



In the spring and early summer the ground-squirrel or spermophile, 

 everywhere present, was trapped or hunted, originally with bow and 

 arrow. It is still sought as food, as which it is much relished. Cer- 

 tain of the larger desert lizards and some snakes were formerly eaten, 

 but these forms are no longer sought for this purpose, although declared 

 to be good tasting. 



An abundance of food was furnished at times by the black cricket 

 (Anabrus simplex), several species of locusts and the cicada. The 

 crickets often occurred in vast swarms or "armies." They were not 

 only eaten in season, but were dried and preserved for winter use in 

 baskets or other receptacles covered in pits. A favorite method of 

 cooking fresh crickets was to place them in pits lined with hot stones 

 in which they were covered and left until thoroughly roasted. This 

 dish is really very palatable and is compared by the Indians to the 



