176 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT “[H. ANN. 18 
this season cold north winds generally blow and render it very uncom- 
fortable to remain for hours in one position on the ice. To remedy this, 
small shelters are arranged, consisting of grass mats, held on a frame- 
work of sticks, to the windward of the hole. In November, soon after 
the ice is formed, a fisherman frequently catches 200 pounds of tomcod 
in a day, but from 10 to 40 pounds is the average result of a day’s 
fishing. 
Figure 24, plate LXVII, represents an outfit for tomcod fishing, from 
Cape Nome, consisting of the two rods, a whalebone line, stone sinker, 
and hook as described. The line is guided through the notch in the 
end of the rod, which is cut in at each end so that it forms a shuttle- 
like stick, upon which the line is wound when uot in use. In some 
instances the four hooks are arranged around the sinker and held in 
place by means of short, elastic leaders of whalebone or quill. 
Among the fishermen of Norton sound and along the American shore 
of Bering strait the lines on which these hooks are held usually pass 
through holes in the sinker and are wedged in place. On St Lawrence 
island, sinkers are made with a hole at the bottom for suspending a 
hook, and four other holes for a similar purpose at each of the rounded 
corners. Figure 5, plate LX VII, represents one of the sinkers from this 
island; the hooks are made of iron and have from three to four points 
on the end of a straight shank, which is lashed to a whalebone leader 
by a sinew cord; the upper end of the leader is passed through the holes 
in the sinker and knotted. Accompanying this specimen is the stick 
for manipulating the line when landing the fish (figure 32, plate 
Lxviit). Figure 31, plate LXviu, illustrates another tomeod fishing 
outfit, from Norton sound, consisting of a shuttle-like rod notched at 
each end and a thin rawhide line with an ivory sinker, which is in 
two parts, excavated in the middle and filled with lead; the two halves 
are held together by a lashing of whalebone; a whalebone loop extends 
from the bottom of the sinker and to it is attached a small hook made 
by lashing a small iron point across the lower end of a whalebone 
shank; justabove the sinker a leader of whalebone is attached to a line 
with a similar hook. 
Figure 28, plate LXIx, represents a large sinker, from St Lawrence 
island, made from a piece of the jawbone of a whale. On two of the 
sides, a little below the middle, are holes through which pass whale- 
bone leaders about nine inches long, on which are hooks with bone 
shanks having conical knobs on the lower ends; there are three slits 
on one Shank and two on the other, in which upstanding points of 
bone are inserted and fastened in position with fine cord made from 
whalebone. 
From Cape Nome was obtained an obovate ivory sinker, shown in 
figure 4,plate Lx1x. It has three holes in thesides, in which are inserted 
three upstanding points of ivory over an inch in length, held in posi- 
tion by a wrapping of fine whalebone; lower, through one side of the 
