140 



PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



the same time wrapping the thumb and first finger of his right hand with rags. 

 He then made a small torch about half the size of one's little finger by twisting 

 some pieces of rags together rather tightly. Selecting a spine from the water 

 and placing it between the ends of the wrapped thumb and finger, the torch was 

 lit and held in the left hand close to the spine, the workman dexterously changing 

 the position so as to impart the same amount of heat to all portions at once. 

 Occasionally he moistened the spine in his mouth. By this application of heat 

 and moisture he tempered the spine, and at the same time api^lying a gentle 

 pressure by the end of the wrapped finger, he was soon able to produce a very 

 fair and strong hook. As soon as a sufficient curvature is obtained, it is secured 

 by fastening a string from the point to the shaft. 



" The fish of the Colorado River, eaten by the Mohaves, do not nibble the 

 bait, but bolt it, hook and all, and are killed by the wounds which arc made in 

 their gills. This cactus-spine hook would be of no use in catching fish that 

 nibble, as there is no barb. The Indians fasten the bait below the hook before 

 throwing it into the water. The iron hooks obtained from the whites now take 

 the place of their old-fashioned ones."'"' 



This " bolting," as Dr. Palmer calls it, throws some light on the applicability 

 of the Californian fish-hooks. 



The eastern Indians, of course, could not employ cactus-spines, but they 

 had thorny brushes and trees, which might have furnished them the material 

 for fish-hooks. 



Fig. 220. — Honey-locust twig with spine, cut to resemble a fish-hook. 



By way of illustration, I present in Fig. 220 the delineation of a hook which 

 I cut from the thorn-bearing portion of a stem of the honey-locust {Gleditschia 



* Palmer : Fish-Hooks of the Mohave Indians ; American Naturalist ; Vol. XII, 1878 ; p. 403. 



