12 PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



of the river, which uncovered the rocks, or by loss of a portion of the waters* 

 Another fish of the salmon tribe, a trout, doubtless the common trout {Salmo 

 fario or Trutfa fario), was also caught by the cave-men, but it does not seem to 

 have been extensively used as an article of food. Remains of the pike {Esox 

 lucius) are not wanting in the Dordogne caves ; but they are less abundant than 

 those of the salmon. The pike, says Dr. Sauvage, is common throughout Europe, 

 from Scandinavia to Turkey, Northern Asia and North America, and attains a 

 large development in cold countries. 



Together with the species just mentioned, some other fishes were taken by 

 the troglodytes of the Vezere district. Dr. Sauvage found in their hearth-stuffs 

 the remains of the white bream {Ahramis Micca), now common in Holland, Eng- 

 land, France, and Germany ; also bones of the bream or carp-bream {Ahramis 

 brama), of the dace [Squalius leuciscus), and of the chub {Squalius cephalus), all 

 of which are now distributed from the North of Europe to the Pyrenees, and 

 belong to the cyprinoid or carp family. 



" To resume, the salmon appears to have been of great importance as food 

 with the cave-dwellers of Perigord, and it is probable that they migrated in 

 search of this fish ; whilst in their every-day fishing they caught trout, pike, 

 bream, white bream, dace, and chub."f 



Fishing and Fishing -implements. — It seems to be a prevailing opinion that 

 man was a fish-hunter before he became a fish-catcher, or, in other words, that 

 the spearing and shooting of fish preceded the methods of capturing them by 

 means of lines and nets. However that may be, there have been found in the 

 cave-debris of Southern France bone implements which are identical in shape 

 with a class still used for catching fishes and birds. I allude to small bone rods 

 tapering toward both ends, and sometimes grooved around the middle, to facili- 

 tate the fastening of a line. Such a primitive fishing-utensil — it hardly can be 

 called a fish-hook — is properly baited, and when swallowed by a fish or bird, 

 cannot be disgorged, and the creature falls a prey to man. 



These pointed rods are employed in fishing on the Northwest Coast of 

 America, as, for instance, by the Makah Indians, who inhabit the region about 

 Cape Flattery, in Washington Territory. " For very small fish, like perch or 

 rock-fish," says Mr. James Gr. Swan, " they simply fasten a small jjiece of bone 

 to a line of sinews. The bone is made as sharp as a needle at both ends, and is 

 tied in the middle. "{ 



I give in Fig. 2 the representation of one of a series of double-pointed and 



* Broca : The Troglodytes : p. 328. 



f Sauvage : On Fishing during the Reindeer-Period ; Reliquise Aquitanicaa; I, p. 225, et passim. 



JSwan: The Indians of Cape Flattery, at the Entrance to the Strait of Fuca, Washington Territory; No. 

 220 of Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge; Washington, 1869; p. 41. 



