THE FORESTS AND SPORT OF SIBERIA. 139 



is fixed with the fork against a notch in one of the stakes, and with 

 its pointed end fastened against another longer peg whose forked 

 end rests lightly on the other stake. The two pegs keep one 

 another in position, but on the slightest pressure they fall asunder. 

 When the trap is set, the peg arrangement which corresponds to 

 the trigger is covered with numerous light, dry twigs, not so much 

 to conceal it, as to form a larger surface of possible contact. When 

 an animal, even a small bird, steps upon the twigs, the two pegs 

 fall asunder, and the beam drops, killing the animal under it. If 

 it be set for a beast of prey, bait is laid beside the triggers; all 

 other kinds of game are simply guided to the trap by the direction 

 of the fence. In many woods all the haunts, paths, and clear spaces 

 are beset with these traps in hundreds and thousands, so that the 

 huntsman is often compensated by abundant booty for the slight 

 trouble which it takes to arrange his effective apparatus. Grouse, 

 hares, squirrels, and ermine are the commonest victims; polecat, 

 pine marten, and sable, the rarest. Gluttons also and wolves often 

 lose their lives, but the survivors learn like dogs, and anxiously 

 avoid the set traps, though neither is at all afraid to steal or gnaw 

 at and thus destroy the booty caught in one which has sprung. 



Besides the "fall-trap", the Ostiaks and Samoyedes are fond of 

 using a spring-gun arrangement, fitted with bow and arrow or 

 automatic cross-bow. As the bow is very strong and the arrow 

 well made, the murderous contrivance is very effective, and exceed- 

 ingly dangerous to the inattentive explorer. Ingenious arrange- 

 ments hold the bow stretched, and keep it and the arrow in position; 

 a wooden clasp relaxes the bow whenever a line stretched across the 

 animal's run is touched. In order to direct the arrow so that it may 

 pierce the heart of the victim, the ingenious people use a pillar-like 

 perforated target the size of the desired booty. When this is placed 

 on the run it has the perforation at the precise level of the beast's 

 heart, and according to the distance between the heart and the 

 collar-bone, the hunters determine the distance between the mark 

 and the trigger. As all the natives are well acquainted with the 

 tracks of various kinds of game, the spring-gun only fails when a 

 creature comes along entirely different in size from that for which 



