184 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
kwim rivers wicker fish traps are set, with a brush and wicker-work 
fence connecting them with the shore. These fish traps form an elon- 
gated cone, with a funnel-shape entrance in the larger end. Each has 
two long poles at the sides of the mouth or broad end and another at 
the small end, by means of which it is raised or lowered. It is set at 
the outer end of the wicker-work fence with the mouth facing down- 
stream, and held in place by poles driven in the river bottom with their 
ends projecting above the water. 
A model of a trap from the lower Yukon, used for catching salmon, 
is illustrated in figure 14, plate Lxx. The funnel-shape mouth is fas- 
tened to a square framework, with handle-like extensions along the 
upper and lower sides, by means of which poles are fastened for guid- 
ing the trap in setting, and which rest against the poles driven into the 
river bottom to keep the trap in position. 
The Eskimo living near the base of the Kuslevak mountains go to 
the Yukon delta to fish for salmon. Norton bay and the shores around 
the head of Norton sound are occupied by people from the surround- 
ing districts, who gather there during the fishing season. Nearly all 
of the Sledge islanders resort to the adjacent mainland at this time. 
Throughout the region the people go out from their villages to sum- 
mer camps at places where the run of fish is known to be greatest, and 
all enjoy a season of plenty, always anticipated with pleasure by the 
entire community. 
At times fish are so plentiful on the lower Yukon in July, while the 
dog salmon are running, that the wicker fish traps, which measure 4 to 5 
feet in diameter and about 10 feet in length, have to be emptied several 
times a day to prevent their breaking. The gill nets are also watched 
coustantly by the owner, who goes out in his kaiak whenever the 
motion of the floats shows there are fish in them, and, drawing up the 
net so that the heads of the fish are above water, he stuns them by a 
blow from a short club and removes them from the net. ; 
Figure 2, plate LXXx, represents one of these clubs for killing fish, which 
was obtained at Sabotnisky. It is made of spruce and is reduced 
in size downward to form a slender handle, suboyal in cross section, 
grooved on each side, and wrapped with spruce root at the grip. 
Toward the end it becomes larger and is rounded, and then tapers 
again to a truncated point. Another elub of this character, from 
Sledge island, is shown in figure 1 of the same plate. It is 30 inches 
long, and is oval in cross section. 
The blackfish (Dallia pectoralis) is common wherever sluggish 
streams and lakelets occur from Kotzebue sound to Kuskokwim river. 
Throughout this region they are taken by means of small wicker traps, 
about 18 inches in diameter and 5 feet long, which are set in small 
streams; with a wicker fence leading from the mouths of the traps to the 
shore. 
A model of one of these traps, from St Michael, is illustrated in 
