122 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
mouth of each of these openings a rawhide loop was so arranged that 
the lynx could not reach the bait without getting its head or legs 
entangled, and as the animal drew back the snare would close and hold 
it fast. 
Another common style of snare was made by setting a noose over a 
path used by animals and digging a deep hole in the ground below it. 
To the lower end of the snare a heavy stone was attached, hanging in 
the mouth of the pit; the upper part of the snare was held open by 
attaching it by strings to surrounding objects, and a trigger was so 
arranged that at a touch from a passing animal the stone would be 
freed and drop into the hole, causing the snare to close and draw the 
animal’s neck down to the ground and hold it fast. 
Sometimes a noose was set at the entrance to a tunnel made in the 
frozen snow, with a bait of meat at the rear end, and in endeavoring 
to reach this the animals were snared. I was informed that animals as 
large as reindeer, and even bears, were formerly caught by means of 
snares, and that 
they were in gen- 
eral use for tak- 
ing red and white 
foxes. 
South of the 
mouth of the Yu- 
kon the Eskimo 
formerly made 
pits for catching 
wolves by dig- 
ging in summer 
square holes 
down to the per- 
manently frozen earth, and then making a wall about the sides and 
grading the earth in a gentle slope up to the outside edge, thus making 
a pit so deep that no animal could jump out; it was then covered with 
a frail roof concealed by straw and weeds, with the bait laid on the 
center. In winter the roof was covered with snow. According to the 
old men this was the commonest style of trap used in ancient times, 
and with it many animals were caught. 
One of the most ingenious traps found among the Eskimo was one 
by means of which the tension of a set of strong, twisted sinew cords 
was used to throw a lever and brain the animal that sprung it. These 
traps were known to the people from the northern shore of Norton 
sound to Kotzebue sound; they are not now used on the American 
coast, as they have been superseded by steel traps, but I was informed 
that formerly they were in common use. 
On St Lawrence island were found many pieces of such traps that 
were large enough t6 kill foxes, and from this I conelude that they are 
still in use in that district. The accompanying sketeh (figure 37) from 
Fic. 37—Fox or wolf trap with sinew spring. 
