MCC.EE] 



THE TURTLE FISHEKIES 



187* 



luuiialty something like that of Siouan Indian and buffalo in olden time, 

 whereby both may benefit and whereby the more intelligent communal 

 certainly profits greatly. The flesh of the turtle yields food; some of 

 its bones yield implements; its carapace yields a house covering, a con- 

 venient substitute for umbrella or dog-tent, a temporary buckler, and an 

 emergency tray or cistern, as well as a comfortable cradle at the begin- 

 ning of life and the conventional coftin at its end ; while the only native 



foot-gear known is a sandal made from the 

 integument of a turtle-flipper. 



Doubtless the eggs and newly hatched 

 young of the turtle are eaten, and analogy 

 with other peoples indicates that the fe- 

 males are sometimes captured at the laying 

 grounds or on their way back to water; 

 but observation is limited to the taking of 

 the adult animal at sea by means of a 

 specialized harpoon. A typical specimen 

 of this apparatus, as constructed since the 

 introduction of flotsam iron, is illustiated 

 in figure 20. It comprises a point o or i 

 inches long, made from a nail or bit of stout 

 wire, rudely sharpened by hammering the 

 tip (cold) between cobbles, and dislodging 

 the loosened scales and splinters by thrusts 

 and twirlings in the ground; this is set 

 firmly and cemented with mesquite gum ' 

 into a foreshaft of hard wood, usually 4 or 

 5 inches long, notched to receive a cord 

 and rounded at the ])roximal end; the 

 rounded end of this foreshaft fits into a 

 socket of the main shaft, which may be 

 either a cane-stalk (as shown in the figure) 

 or a section of mesquite root; while a stout 

 cord is firmly knotted about the foreshaft 

 and either attached to the distal portion of 

 the main shaft or carried along it to the 

 hand of the user. The main shaft is usually 

 10 or 12 feet long, with the harpoon socket in the larger end, and is ma- 

 nipulated by a fisherman sitting or standing on his balsa. On catching 

 sight of a turtle lying in the water, he approaches stealthily, prefer- 

 ably from the rear yet in such wise as not to cast a frightening shadow, 

 sets the foreshaft in place, guides the point close to the carapace, and 

 then by a quick thrust drives the metal through the shell. The fric- 

 tional resistance between the chitin and the metal holds the point in 

 place, and although the foreshaft is jerked out at the first movement of 

 the transfixed animal the cord prevents escape; aud after partial tiring 



m 



m 



-Turtle-harpoon. 



