THE FOOD FISHES OF ALASKA. 391 
piece of the T, and still continuing it reaches the funnel, in which it 
sees a small opening, and, in the vain hope of escape, passes through it 
Alam 
and finds itself in the basket, from which it cannot get out. The slen- 
der wooden rods, extremely brittle when dry, are exceedingly tough 
when wet; the strongest fish cannot break them. The basket being 
open to the water, they remain alive as long as the basket remains 
untouched, unless the larger ones indulge in a cannibal feast upon their 
smaller relatives. 
The fish-traps are visited every other day by the Russians. The space of 
ice above the basket, being cut three or four times a week, never 
becomes more than a few inches thick, and is easily broken up by the 
heavy ice-chisels used, while that which remains untouched often 
becomes six feet thick. When the trap is visited, the ice is broken and 
the fragments taken out with a wocden shovel or scoop, with a bottom 
of network. The basket is not raised until all the water above ii is free 
from fragments of ice which might cut it. The poles are then pulled up 
and the basket raised above the level of the ice, the cover at the small 
end untied, and the fish emptied out; whenit isreplaced as before. The 
water below the ice of course falls as the springs which supply the river 
become frozen. This necessitates an extension of the fence until deep 
water is again reached, and the baskets are moved out. Or, if they 
should be left in their place, others are put at the extremity of the new 
fence. This process, except when the original trap is placed directly m 
the channel, has to be repeated several times during the winter. 
_ The water is lowest in January and February, and begins to rise 
again in March. By the end of April it frequently overflows the top of 
the fence, thus rendering the traps useless. When the ice breaks up 
and the spring freshets occur, the fence stakes and traps are ¢arried 
away ard are seen no more, unless the owner has taken the precaution 
of placing his baskets on the river bank, out of reach. They are usnu- 
ally so worn and patched when spring arrives that they are hardly 
