364 OF ANCIENT ORIGIN. 



islands; for on those pertaining to Finland, it is said 

 that recourse is frequently had to it. 



This engine of which a good idea may be formed 

 from the above sketch is of very ancient origin, having 

 been used in Tartary and Siberia from time immemorial. 

 The Samoyedes are believed to have introduced it into 

 the countries bordering on the White Sea, from whence 

 it probably came to Sweden, where it has been known 

 for many centuries. The ancient Jagt-St(ultj<ir, or laws 

 relating to the chase, mention the use of this device as one 

 of the privileges of the inhabitants of the " SkJir^irdar " ; 

 and before the invention of gunpowder it was probably 

 the principal means by which the feathered riches of the 

 islands were made available. 



The " Fogel-Niit," made of stout twine, is from 

 eighty to one hundred fathoms in length, and four to 

 six fathoms in depth, with meshes three to four inches 

 square. To its upper part, at intervals of about three 

 feet, are attached rings, which are threaded, so to say, on 

 a rope stretched between t\vo posts of some thirty feet in 

 height, placed on each side of a narrow strait or sound 

 where fowl are known to have their drag, or line of 

 flight. As the rings traverse on the rope in like 

 manner as a curtain on its rods, the net, by the aid of a 

 pulley, can be either folded up or distended with the 

 greatest facility: but however " taut" the rope be drawn, 

 the net will still " belly " a little, particularly if the space 

 over which it spreads be very great . 



This net is more especially designed for the capture 

 of the Long-tailed Man-Id, the Velvet Duck, and the 

 Eider, their flight being rapid and heedless, and seldom 

 more than from six to ei^ht feet above the water. It is 

 not every kind of fowl, however, that can be taken by 

 tliis means. Some fly hi^h, and are more on their n-iiard, 

 discovering the danger in time to avoid it ; whilst the 



