﻿76 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Canadian 
  institute 
  has 
  several 
  well 
  adapted 
  for 
  this 
  also, 
  varying 
  from 
  

   two 
  and 
  one 
  quarter 
  to 
  four 
  inches 
  in 
  length. 
  The 
  early 
  Huron 
  prac- 
  

   tice 
  of 
  marrying 
  the 
  nets 
  to 
  two 
  young 
  girls, 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  and 
  

   seemed 
  long 
  established 
  when 
  the 
  French 
  first 
  met 
  them. 
  The 
  Al- 
  

   gonquins 
  had 
  an 
  old 
  story 
  that 
  Michabou 
  taught 
  their 
  ancestors 
  how 
  

   to 
  make 
  nets, 
  having 
  taken 
  the 
  hint 
  from 
  watching 
  a 
  spider 
  catch 
  a 
  

   fly. 
  Nets 
  were 
  therefore 
  plainly 
  an 
  aboriginal 
  invention, 
  and 
  their 
  

   use 
  is 
  directly 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  flat 
  net 
  stones 
  

   found 
  by 
  all 
  considerable 
  streams. 
  These 
  nets 
  were 
  made 
  of 
  native 
  

   hemp, 
  out 
  of 
  which 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  York 
  Iroquois 
  still 
  make 
  thread 
  

   in 
  their 
  primitive 
  way. 
  

  

  Mr 
  William 
  L. 
  Stone 
  gave 
  Dr 
  Rau 
  an 
  ' 
  account 
  of 
  a 
  stone 
  struc- 
  

   ture, 
  evidently 
  a 
  fish-pen, 
  in 
  the 
  state 
  of 
  New 
  York.' 
  It 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  

   right 
  or 
  south 
  bank 
  of 
  Fish 
  creek, 
  the 
  outlet 
  of 
  Saratoga 
  lake, 
  and 
  

   the 
  plan 
  and 
  description 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  on 
  page 
  201, 
  of 
  Prehistoric 
  

   fishing. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  considerable 
  interest, 
  and 
  Mr 
  Stone 
  readily 
  

   disposes 
  of 
  a 
  seeming 
  difficulty, 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  opening 
  to 
  the 
  pound 
  

   was 
  down 
  stream, 
  by 
  supposing 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  employed 
  mainly 
  when 
  

   the 
  fish 
  were 
  ascending 
  the 
  creek 
  to 
  spawn. 
  Such 
  pounds 
  were 
  fre- 
  

   quent 
  among 
  the 
  indians 
  elsewhere 
  within 
  historic 
  times, 
  made 
  of 
  

   stones 
  or 
  wood, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  great 
  difficulty 
  in 
  assigning 
  such 
  a 
  use 
  

   to 
  this. 
  In 
  Sullivan's 
  campaign, 
  in 
  1779, 
  a 
  town 
  was 
  destroyed 
  on 
  

   the 
  present 
  site 
  of 
  Waterloo, 
  where 
  were 
  ' 
  several 
  fish 
  ponds 
  abound- 
  

   ing 
  opposite 
  the 
  town.' 
  This 
  was 
  the 
  statement 
  of 
  Sergeant 
  Major 
  

   George 
  Grant. 
  Gen. 
  John 
  S. 
  Clark, 
  a 
  well 
  known 
  antiquarian 
  made 
  

   a 
  note 
  on 
  this 
  : 
  ' 
  These 
  were 
  circular 
  enclosures 
  of 
  stone 
  from 
  30 
  to 
  

   40 
  feet 
  in 
  diameter, 
  built 
  upon 
  the 
  rocky 
  bed 
  of 
  the 
  stream, 
  where 
  the 
  

   water 
  was 
  neither 
  very 
  deep 
  or 
  rapid, 
  so 
  constructed 
  as 
  to 
  permit 
  the 
  

   water 
  to 
  pass 
  through, 
  but 
  to 
  retain 
  the 
  fish.' 
  These, 
  of 
  course, 
  were 
  

   simply 
  places 
  for 
  keeping 
  surplus 
  stock. 
  

  

  These 
  were 
  modern 
  structures. 
  When 
  the 
  famous 
  ' 
  Lessee 
  com- 
  

   pany 
  ' 
  made 
  its 
  agreement 
  with 
  the 
  Six 
  Nations 
  in 
  1787-88, 
  the 
  In- 
  

   dians 
  reserved 
  ' 
  one 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  falls 
  and 
  convenient 
  places 
  for 
  weirs, 
  

   for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  catching 
  fish 
  and 
  eels, 
  from 
  Cross 
  lake 
  to 
  the 
  Three 
  

   Rivers.' 
  Without 
  questioning 
  whether 
  eels 
  are 
  fish, 
  it 
  is 
  clear 
  that 
  

   the 
  Iroquois 
  attached 
  importance 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  weirs, 
  and 
  that 
  some 
  

  

  