190 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH.ANN. 18 



numbers. Holes are kept open in the ice by the people who watch for 

 the first appearance of these fish. As soon as the first one is seen 

 everybody seizes a dip-net or a stout stick with a short cross-piece at 



the lower end and throws out as 

 many as possible. When the main 

 body of the fish have passed, the 

 people run up the river for some dis 

 tance, cut other holes, and repeat the 



no. 55_woock.n net float &amp;lt; 8) . catch &quot; This is continued until the 



people are exhausted by the violent 



exertion or a neighboring village is reached, when they are compelled 

 to stop and give way to those living in that locality. 



NET-MAKING IMPLEMENTS 

 GAUGES 



Various tools are used by the Eskimo in the manufacture of nets, 

 several forms of which were seen in different districts. From St Law 

 rence island several curiously shaped whalebone gauges for the meshes 

 of nets were obtained. One of these (number 127020) is a trifle over 

 six and one-half inches in length, and is a flat, oblong tablet, with a 

 small projection at each end on one side. From the holes through it 

 near one end it had evidently been used previously as part of a sledge 

 runner. The specimen illustrated in figure 4, plate LXXII, is similar in 

 form and material to the preceding, but is smaller. Similar but shorter 

 examples are shown in figures 2 and 3, plate LXXII. Each of these has 

 a long, curved handle projecting from one corner and a short spur from 

 the other. 



A whalebone gauge from Kotzebue sound (figure 7, plate LXXII) is 

 notched along each side to receive a sinew cord to secure it to the 

 wooden handle in which it is inserted. The specimen from Sledge 

 island (figure 13, plate LXXII) is a long-blade gauge of ivory, with a 

 heavy back. The handle is grooved to receive the fingers, and ter 

 minates in an image of a seal s head, with eyes, ears, and nose repre 

 sented by inlaid, blackened wooden pegs. 



The long-blade ivory gauge with heavy back, from Cape Darby (fig 

 ure 12, plate LXXII), has a long, tapering deerhorn handle riveted and 

 lashed to its upper side. The example from the Diouiede islands (fig 

 ure 14, plate LXXII) is a large, heavy, ivory gauge with a plain handle, 

 which has a rude projection at the inner end to prevent it from slip 

 ping. The deerhorn gauge from Cape Nome (figure 8, plate LXXII) is 

 fastened in the split end of a wooden handle by a lashing of spruce 

 root. A gauge similar to this was obtained on Nuuivak island. A 

 small, double-end gauge from Sabotnisky (figure 10, plate LXXII) is 

 slightly different in size at each end. The handle is enlarged in the 

 middle and has a stick lashed to it by spruce roots to make it large 

 enough to afford a convenient grip for the hand. The single-blade 



