ABORIGINAL AMERICAN HARPOONS. 221 



of inos(|uite root, whilo :i stout cord is tirinl}' knottorl about the tiino- 

 of the h(»:i(l and cither attached to the outiM' end of the main shaft or 

 carried in the hand of the user. The shaft is usually lO or 12 feet 

 loni!'. with the socket in the larg-er end. and is manipulated l)y a iisher- 

 man sitting or standing on his balsa. On catching sight of a turtle 

 lying in the water, he approaches stealthily, preferabh^ from the rear, 

 yet in such wise as not to cast a frightening shadow, sets the foreshaft 

 in place, guides the point close to the victiui, and then ])y a quick 

 thrust drives the metal through the shell. The resistance between the 

 turtle shell and the metal holds the point in place, and although the 

 head is jerked out at the tirst movement of the animal, the cord pre- 

 vents escape; and after partial tiring, the turtle is either drowned or 

 driven ashore, or else lifted on the craft. Dr. McGee quotes the fol- 

 lowing minute account of Seri turtle capture: ' 



All Indian paddles himself from the shore on one of these by means of a long 

 elastic pole of about 12 or 14 feet in length, the wood of Avhich is tlie root of a thorn 

 calletl mesquite, growing, near the coast; and although the branches of this tree are 

 extremely brittle, the underground roots are as pliable as whalebone and nearly as 

 dark in color. At one end of this pole there is a hole an inch deep, into which is 

 inserted another bit of wood in shape like an acorn, having a square bit of iron 4 

 inches long fastened to it, the other end of the tree being pointed. Both the ball 

 and cup are first moistened and then tightly inserted one within the other. Fastened 

 to the iron is a cord of very considerable length, which is brought up along the pole, 

 and both are held in the left hand of the Indian. So securely is the nail thus fixed 

 in the pole that although the latter is used as a paddle it does not fall out. 



A turtle is a very lethargic animal, and may frequently be surprised in its watery 

 shunl)ers. The balsa is placed nearly perpendicularly over one of these unsuspect- 

 ing sleepers, when the fisherman, softly sliding the pole through the water in the 

 direction of the animal till within a foot or two of it, suddenly plunges the iron into 

 its back. No sooner does the creature feel itself transfixed than it swims hastily 

 forward and endeavors to liberate itself. The slightest motion of the turtle displaces 

 the iron point from the long pole, which would otherwise be inevitably broken and 

 the turtle would as certainly be lost; but in the manner here described it is held by 

 the cord fastened on to the iron which has penetrated its back, till, after it has sutti- 

 ciently exhausted its strength, it is hoisted on board the canoe by the fisherman, who 

 proceeds to the shore in order to disi^ose of his prize. 



A barbed head, with wooden shaft, together forming a turtle spear- 

 head, is shown in tig. IH, by McGee (1898, p. 1!>3). 



The only approach to the harpoon type in all the Pue})lo region is 

 an insignificant apparatus for capturing vermin. But the cliti" dwell- 

 ers had the throwing stick, and a spear with a head of stone set on a 

 tang of wood conical at its inner end. like so many found in Peru 

 and C'hile. The Yokut Indians (Mariposan family) on Tulare Lake, 

 California, aie said by Powers to erect ])rushwood shelters over the 

 water, in which the Indian lies flat or) his ))elly peering down through 

 a hole." When a fish passes under, he strikes it with his two-pronged 



» Hardy's Travels, 1829, p. 296. 



'■' Stephen Powers, Tribe.s of ("alifornia, 1S77, p. 'M6. 



