182 H. P. STEENSBY. 
behind, who paddled. A large fish — a sturgeon, as BIGSBY assumed 
— had torn away with the spear attached to it. 
CHARLEVOIX! gives the following description of sturgeon fishing, 
without, however, referring further to the “throwing spear” which he 
mentions. “Two men are in the canoe, each at his own end; the one 
behind steers, the other stands up and has in his hand a throwing spear 
to which is tied a long line, the other end of which is fastened to the 
canoe. The moment he sights a sturgeon at a suitable distance he hurls 
his throwing spear, and tries to strike between the laminæ of the bones. 
If the fish is hit it rushes away, dragging the canoe after it at a rather 
rapid pace, but when it has swum about 150 steps it dies, when the 
line is hauled in and the spoil secured.” 
Of great interest is a winter method of fishing used on the ice, which, 
when employed with seals, is known from Greenland as the ituarpok 
method. After an interval of a century it has been described by HENRY? 
and Konr?, who observed it in use with the Ojibways, and Scxoot- 
CRAFT says that it is one of the most common methods in the northern 
districts. Holes of 45—60 cm. in diameter are chopped in the ice, and 
over them a small scaffolding of branches is raised which is covered 
with skin, so that the light is entirely excluded. When the fisherman 
lies down and puts his head into the bower with his face just above the 
hole he can distinguish to a great depth everything which takes place 
in the still, crystal-clear water and, with a fish-spear which according 
to Конг may have а length of 11—12 metres, can strike any fish 
of which he catches a glimpse. Frequently he makes use of a bait to 
allure the fishes. Конг relates, further, that where there is a current 
in the sea water, as for example where a river debouches, a furrow 
8—9 m. long is chopped in the ice from the hole and to the current, 
through which an assistant with the aid of a long line supports and 
steers the long fish spear according to the signals of the fisherman. With 
this method of fishing on the ice the harpoon does not seem to have 
been employed. Probably the method has only been used in places 
where one could see the bottom. Harpoons, however, have been in 
general use in open water, and this has probably also been the case when 
catching large sturgeon and salmon by fishing through holes in the ice, 
a method so generally carried on. 
When the hunting of big game is mentioned, it must be remem- 
bered, as previously stated, that on the one side there is a transition 
region towards the prairie, and that, on the other side, the Indians ad- 
vance on the tundra to some extent. This is reflected in the methods 
of hunting. The hunting of elk in the pinewoods does not greatly differ 
1 CHARLEVOIX, I, Vol. 3, p. 154. 
? HENRY, p. 66. 
> Конь, Vol. II, pp. 147—49. 
