ARPIONS. 51 



possess myself two of them and have seen others, all of which present a much 

 rougher appearance than the specimen here figured. I place alongside of it, as 

 Fig. 53, the representation of one, also from Robenhausen, which was sent to 

 the Berlin Fishery Exhibition in 1880.* It shows the character of these objects 

 much better than Fig. 52. 



" These implements, which are not at all uncommon at Robenhausen, are of 

 peculiar interest; at first they were considered as implements used for the 

 churning or manufacturing of butter, but M. Rochat Maure, the engineer of 

 Geneva, in the following notice, has clearly shown that they are to be considered 

 as fishing-implements : — 



' The fishermen w'ho at the present day use implements of this kind live, 

 while the fish are going up, on the banks of the river Arve, well known for its 

 cold and rushing stream. They pass the night almost like savages, under huts 

 made of twigs, and their small subsistence is extremely precarious. They catch 

 the fish in the following manner : — To one end of a cord, the length of a stone's 

 throw, they fasten a roundish flat stone, and to the other end a heavier stone of 

 any convenient form. To this main cord they tie at intervals thinner strings 

 with hooks at the end, and from three to five feet long. The heavy stone 

 is then let down into the water from the boat at the side of the bank, but 

 the other stone is thrown as far as possible straight across the stream towards 

 the opposite bank. Early in the morning these cords are drawn up and 

 examined, the implement used for this purpose being exactly like those found at 

 Robenhausen. It is in fact the top of a young fir-tree with the branches 

 springing from the main stem like radii. A cord is fastened to the upper end 

 of this kind of hook, and in order to make it sink, some leaden rings or hooks 

 are fastened to the main stem: it goes by the name of arpion amongst the 

 fishermen. It is thrown into the water from the boat, and when drawn up, 

 brings with it the thinner cords which have the hooks at the end. As 

 the settlers at Robenhausen had no lead, it is possible that the perforated stones 



found in that settlement may have been used to sink these implements. 



This implement is of great interest with respect to the history of civilization, 

 for it proves that implements which have actually derived their origin from the 

 highest antiquity are at the present moment used in precisely the same manner. "f 



Fig. 54 repi'esents the arpion, which measures about eight inches in length.^ 



Nearly related to this simple appliance in form and function, though more 



complicated and entirely made of iron, is the "devil's claw grapnel" (Fig. 55), 



used by New England fishermen to recover fishing-lines from the bottom of the 



* Amtliche Berichte ; p. 130, Fig. 96. 

 f Keller : Lake Dwellings ; Vol. I, p. 53. 

 X Ibid. ; Vol. I, p. 54. 



