460 



TRAPS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



and to allow olhci-.s to escape, or holds the adult individual in and lets 

 the small and young- out. The saA'ag-e tribes, further, could make mov- 

 able walls of reeds and long nets. Indeed, the great impounding nets 

 are the last word in the series. Add to the pound an entrance and 

 there begins another set of inventions around the notion of shutting. 

 A gatewa}^ ma^' be closed l\y nature or ])v device. The tide falls and 

 leaves aquatic creatures imprisoned. Animals get under some obsta- 

 cle and can not surmount it. They corral themselves. A gateway 

 may be guarded by sentinels also, but gates may be intentionally shut 

 or a pound-shaped Ijarrier be set up, so that the return of those which 

 pass in is impossible. Most pounds, whether in water or on land, have 



Fig. 2.— Fish weir of the Virginia Indians (after Hariot). 



some natural or artificial lane for conducting the game to the gate- 

 way. On either side may be precipices, trees with ropes or wattles 

 between wing nets, -or something of the kind, along which animals 

 pursue their natural course and are lured or driven to the pen (fig. 2). 



(h) Cage traps. — In this class must be grouped all forms of coops and ^ 

 strong house traps on land, and a great variety of cones, pockets, 

 and fish traps in the waters. All of these are designed for climbing, i 

 flying, or swimming creatures. The cage or coop trap, completely 

 inclosed on every side, is a step in advance of an open pen, whether 

 on land or in the water. The majority of cage traps have funnel- 

 shaped entrances, into which the animal passes easil}^ and unrestrained, 

 but exit is prevented by means of a pointed strip of wood or other 

 substance acting as a ratchet; or in the case of nets, the small end of 



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