THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 109 



they did not sometimes surpass, the most highly favored of the associated 

 animals. Very soon, however, subsidiary apparatus would be called 

 into play, either the throwing of stones or sticks, picked up at random, 

 or the use of a specially fashioned club either for striking or throwing; 

 and ultimately the arming of the stick with an implement for piercing, 

 constituting the spear or lance, and, finally, the discharge of this spear, 

 in a modified form, by means of a bow, constituting the bow and arrow. 



It is, of course, difficult to say how soon the arrow and the lance were 

 brought into play. We only. know that among the very earliest pre- 

 historic implements are the stone tips, undoubtedly used for this pur- 

 pose and continued to be employed by the wild tribes down to the 

 present day. The bone and wooden tips, which doubtless were called 

 into play at about the same time, perished, as being constructed of less 

 durable material. 



The spear and the bow and arrow constitute very efficient means for 

 capturing fish, in view of the closeness of approach to many species 

 which is possible. No more effective method could be devised for cap- 

 turing such species as the salmon than the spear, with its modifications 

 of the harpoon, the grains, &c. In sea fishing it is especially such fish 

 as the flounders, skates, eels, and other kinds that fall victims in large 

 numbers to this method. The Esquimaux and the Indians of the north- 

 west coast of America employ the bow and arrow very extensively for 

 the capture of fish of various kinds. There are numerous and varied 

 illustrations of this fact among the collections of the National Museum 

 at Washington. 



The harpoon comes legitimately in this series of weapons and has 

 numerous applications. The head is placed at the end of a stiff handle, 

 and sometimes when this is buried in the flesh it slips off, but remains 

 connected by a thong or cord either to the harpoon itself or to a buoy 

 which is thrown overboard. The latter method is most generally em- 

 ployed in the capture of the swordfish. In the whale fishery the end of 

 the line is attached to a boat, which thus serves as a buoy or floa-t. The 

 combination of a torpedo or an explosive with a lance, either kept in 

 the hand or discharged from a gun, is a more recent and extremely effi- 

 cient method of capture of the large animals of the sea. 



The line. — This may be considered essentially under the two divis- 

 ions of the line held in the hands or at the end of a rod affixed to some 

 object on the shore or to a float of some kind, and having at the extreme 

 opposite end one or more hooks baited, with or without floats, for buoy- 

 ing the hook to a certain height above the bottom, or for showing by its 

 motion the attack of the fish. Here we have the first idea of the hook, 

 either covered with some substance attractive to the fish that conceals 

 its character or simulates small fish and other objects that tend to at- 

 tract its victims. The use of the hook and line in combination for the 

 capture offish is of the utmost antiquity in this respect, perhaps little 

 inferior to the bow and arrow. While, of course, the lines themselves 



