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 iish. 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 

 „ „ „ „ , .« t,.. catch. This is continued until the 



Fig. 5o — ^\ ooden net float (g) . 



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-MAKINa 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 Diomede 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, iflate 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 Nunivak island. A 

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

 slightly difl'erent 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 



