174 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. ANN. 18 



this time the spring tides begin to show along the shore, where the 

 water forces its way up through the cracks in the ice. During the 

 cold weather of winter the tomcod and the sculpin remain in deep 

 water, but as spring approaches they begin to return to the vicinity 

 of the shore, and holes in the ice are made through which they are 

 caught by means of hook and line. During May, as the weather grows 

 warmer, the tomcod become extremely numerous, and at this time the 

 old men and women may be seen scattered about on the ice, a few 

 hundred yards from the shore, where they fish during many hours of 

 the day. Figure 47, from a photograph taken at St Michael, shows 

 a man at one of the fishing holes. 



T?IG. 47 Tomcod fishing through sea ice at St Michael. 



For fishing through the ice a hole from six to eight inches in diam 

 eter is made. The ice pick employed for this purpose consists of a 

 stout wooden staff, usually provided with a point made from the end 

 of an old chisel or a flat piece of iron ; but formerly, and indeed fre 

 quently during my residence in Alaska, picks pointed with reindeer 

 horn or ivory were in use. 



Figure 10, plate LXVII, illustrates one of these picks from Norton 

 sound; it consists of a wooden staff, nearly four feet long, terminating 

 in a deerhorn point, which is lashed firmly to the staff with cords of 

 sealskin. 



As the ice is generally several feet in thickness, the hole becomes 

 filled with small fragments as the work of digging progresses. To 



