AMONG THE INDIANS. 45 



narrow channel formed by piles sunk deeply in their bed, 

 and bound together by branches of trees. A few open- 

 ings are left through which the fish can pass ; but across 

 these openings stout nets are extended, and the fish, once 

 entangled in the snare, is unable to extricate itself. 



The riverine peasants, says Acerbi, walk upon these 

 piles with a truly wonderful address, though the current 

 often agitates them in a very perceptible manner. Men, 

 women, children, all leap from pile to pile with the 

 most singular agility. We felt desirous to assist them in 

 drawing their nets ; we were rash enough to cross a third 

 of the palisade ; but the sight of the water swirling and 

 eddying beneath our feet turned one of my companions 

 giddy, and had he not been checked in time he would 

 have fallen into the river. The children, and even the 

 men, confide too rashly in their nimbleness, and it is 

 seldom a year passes without one of them falling into 

 the water at the risk of being drowned, since the violence 

 of the current precludes all possibility of a boat being 

 kept within reach to render assistance. 



The Shoshony Indians, who dwell on the bank of the 

 Serpent River, to the west of the Rocky Mountains, 

 devote themselves entirely to the salmon-fishery. There 

 is a place named the Salmon's Fall (Chute-du-Saumon) \ 

 it is a succession of rapids, with a perpendicular cascade 

 above them of fully twenty feet. An incredible number 

 of salmon is caught here. They begin to leap soon after 

 sunset, reascending the course of the river. Some of the 

 Indian fishermen then plunge into the midst of the rapids, 

 swimming with equal strength and dexterity. Others 

 station themselves on the rocks, others stand waist-deep 



