52 PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



sea, when the buoys marking the position of the sot lines or trawls have been 

 lost or submerged by the action of violent winds and waves. It is generally 

 employed on the outer fishing-banks lying off' the East Coast of North America, 

 in depths varying from twenty-five to over one hundred fathoms. The operation 

 is as follows : one end of a long line generally six-thread Manilla hemp buoy- 

 line is fastened to the long link at the extremity of the apparatus. This done, 

 the implement is thrown out of the boat, and so much line veered out that the 

 grapnel will " hug " the bottom, while the dory is being pulled along. Ordinarily 

 two men row the boat during this operation of dragging for the lost gear, while 

 another sits at the stern with his hand on the line, in order to be able to tell 

 more surely than he otherwise could when the trawl-line is hooked. If the 

 depth of water exceeds fifty fathoms, it is generally necessary to fasten an 

 additional weight on the line, two or three fathoms distant from the grapnel, for 

 the purpose of keeping the latter close to the bottom.* 



FIG. 55." Devil's claw grapnel." Massachusetts. (54342). 



It has been stated that the lake-people doubtless obtained fish by the method 

 of spearing a supposition based upon the discovery of lacustrine barbed dart- 

 heads of horn and bone, well suited for that purpose. Some of them may have 

 been the armatures of hunting-spears, although, as we have seen,, the lake- 

 dwellers were experts in the fabrication of weapon-heads of flint and jasper. 



The original of Fig. 56, made of stag-horn, certainly bears the character 

 of a harpoon-head. This specimen was found at the station of Saint- Aubin, 

 and belonged to the collection of M. de Mortillet.f 



Fig. 57 represents another harpoon-head of deer-horn, likewise found at 

 Saint- Aubin, and formerly in the possession of Dr. Clement, whose collection 

 was acquired by the Peabody Museum. It appears that Professor Desor 

 considers this specimen as a fish-hook, an opinion which I can hardly share.J 



* For this information I am indebted to Captain Joseph W. Collins, of the United States Commission of Fish 

 and Fisheries. 



f The illustration is reproduced from " Reliquiae Aquitanicse," II, p. 51, Fig. 11. 



J Desor: Palafittes, or Lacustrian Constructions, in the Lake of Neuehatel ; Smithsonian Report for 1865; 

 p. 857. Fig. 57 is a reproduction of Fig. 11 a on the same page. I could not identify this specimen among the 

 Swiss harpoon-heads sent to me for examination by the trustees of the Peabody Museum. 



