108 TORNEA. 



which is held fast by a friend on shore. 

 Thus they catch the fish below the fall. 



Seals are taken hy various means, being 

 either shot with fire-arms, or caught in a 

 net. The latter, three or four fathoms 

 high, is made of hempen cord, as thick as 

 a goose- quill, each mesh being two spans 

 wide. This net is kept upright in the wa- 

 ter by means of oblong floats of w-ood, and 

 has no stones at the bottom. Four or five 

 such nets are frequently tied to the ends of 

 each other, and a large stone is attached 

 to the last, bound about with willow or 

 osier, which serves to keep the nets steady. 

 These are set m places where the seals are 

 known to hide themselves, for those ani- 

 mals do the fishermen great damage, not 

 only by devouring fish, but by tearing the 

 fishing nets, from the destruction of which 

 the haunts of the seals are discovered. 

 When a seal comes in the way of the above- 

 described nets, he either thrusts his head 

 between the meshes, getting more and 

 more entangled the more he pushes for- 



