260 PROCEEDIXGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The fish usually swim in deep water till tbey reach the mouth of the 

 river, ami duriuj^' their i:)assage up the strait are followed by innumera- 

 ble enemies. Porpoises, seals, dog-fish, ground-sharks, and halibut 

 harass them in the strait, and if they rise to the surface they are attacked 

 l)y clouds of gulls, ducks, and other sea-fowl. 



The bishop of British Columbia, who visited the Nass Eiver in 18G3, 

 writes concerning the fisheries: 



" Such a scene of life — man life, bird life, fish life — I had never before 

 conceived. Over the fish was an immense cloud of innumerable gulls; 

 so many and so thick were they as they hovered about looking for the 

 fish that 'the sight resembled a heavy fall of snow. The fish are caught 

 in vast quantities. I saw hundreds of tons collected together, and the 

 nets hauled in bushels at a time." 



When the fish reach the mouth of the river they generally rise to the 

 surface of the water, and are caught by the natives with a pole about 

 18 feet long, slightly flattened into an oar-shape at the lower end. Into 

 one edge of this flattened blade are stuck a row of wooden pins or pieces 

 of wire sharijened. This implement is thrust down and with both 

 hands drawn rapidly through the water, and the fish are imi^aled on the 

 pins and are shaken off into the canoe in the same manner as the Indians 

 about Puget Sound take herrings. The number of Eulachou caught in 

 this way form a good estimate of the probable run of the fish for the 

 season, whether they will be plentiful or not. 



As soon as the fish make their appearance at the sand-bars fishing 

 operations begin in earnest. In former years a sort of large landing- 

 net, called by the natives Bdnak, was used, but of late these have been 

 discarded for purse-nets. About an hour after the tide has begun to 

 ebb two strong i^oles are driven into the sand at the bottom of the river 

 about 12 feet apart; to these the net is attached, the mouth being kept 

 open by inserting two small sticks across it. It is then depressed in the 

 water until the under rim rests on the sand ; the fish are drawn into the 

 aperture by the force of the current. 



The nets are generally six or eight fathoms long. A long crooked 

 stick is used for raistng the narrow end of the net. If it contains fish it 

 is hauled into the canoe and, by loosening a string, its contents are 

 easily shaken out. Sometimes the net for its whole length becomes 

 blocked with fish. The greatest care and skill are then necessary to 

 prevent its being carried away by the current. 



Another difficulty, and the cause of much damage to the nets, is the 

 loose ice^ The fish first come about the time the ice begins to break up. 

 Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Some years the ice remains 

 solid until after the fish are caught, in which case holes have to be cut 

 in the ice to put down the nets ; other years, again, the ice has all dis- 

 appeared before the fish arrive. 



When the tide begins to flow, the nets are all taken in and all the fish 

 caught are thrown in heaps on the ground close to the wigwams. With 



