2g0 THE POINT HARROW ESKIMO. 



word ill CVicciiliiu.lic may iii«lii-at.- that their ancestors once used the 

 Iir"f wolt'-kiUcr, when tlicy li\<'(l where wolves were found. The defi- 

 nitr»n<.fuiu'kiiaK.theonlinaiyw..nUortliej>nll-cuteher{seebelow)— in 



tliedrouhiiidskeOnll.oi;— istl nly eviiU'iice we have of theuseof this 



cimtrivaiice in Creeiiiaiid. This is (iiie of the several cases iu which we 

 oidv h-arn of tlie (Hcurrciice of ciistoiiis, etc., noted at Point Barrow, in 

 Greenhind, hy liudiiii;- llie name of the tiling in (luestion defined in the 

 dictionary. 



TrnpK.—Voxi'n are caught in the winter by deadfalls or steel traps 

 (iiiinori'a). set generally along the beach, where the foxes are wander- 

 ing about in searcli of carrion thrown up by the sea. In setting the 

 deadfalls :\ little lioiise :d»iut - feet high is built, in which is placed 

 the bait <ifm<at or lilublier. A lieavy log of driftwood is placed across 

 the entrance, witii one enil. raised high enough to allow a fox to pass 

 uniler it, and sn|(i)orted liy a regular "tignre of fonr" of sticks. The 

 fox can not i;et at the bait without passing under the log, and iu doing 

 HO lie must timrli t lie trigger of the "flgure of fonr" (4), which brings 

 down tlie log :i(i()ss his back. When a steel trap is used it is not 

 baited itself, bnt buried in the snow at the entrance of a similar little 

 house, so lli;it tlie fox <an not reach the bait without stepping on the 

 plate of the trap and thus springing it. Many foxes are taken with 

 such traps in tlie course of the winter. 



Tile lioys use a sort of snare for catching setting birds. This is 

 sinijily a strip of whalebone made into a slip-noose, which is set over 

 the egus. with the end fastened to the ground, so that the bird is caught 

 by the leu. ( )nee or twice, when there was a light snow on the beach, 

 we saw a iiatiM' eatehing the large gulls as follows: He had a stick of 

 hard wood, pointed at each end, to the middle of which was fastened 

 one end of a stout string about 6 feet long. The other end was secured 

 to a stake driven into the frozen gravel, and tlie stick wrapped with 

 blubber and laid on the beach, \vitli the string carefully hidden in the 

 snow. The gull came along, swallowed the lump of blubber, and as 

 soon as he tried to Hy away the string made the sharp stick turn like a 

 toggle across his gullet, the points forcing their way through, so that 

 he w as held fast. A similar contrivance, but somewhat smaller and 

 made of bone, is used at Norton Sound for catching gulls and murres, 

 a number of them being attached to a trawl line and baited with fish. 

 Mr. Nelson collected a large number of these.' In regard to the use of 

 this contrivance in (iireiilaiid, see above under "wolf-killers." 



■Sii(i)r-(jo(iijlcs. — Tlie wooden goggles worn to protect the eyes from 

 snow -blindness maybe considered as accessories to hunting, as they are 

 worn chiefly by those engaged in hunting or fishing, especially when 

 deer-hunting in the spring on the snow-covered tundra or when iu the 

 whaleboats among the ice. They are simply a wooden cover for the 



■ these from Norton Sound, 



