DIES PISCATORI^. 537 



Gap, at the lower end of Lake Superior. My limited time, 

 and my anxiety to fish the rapids, did not allow of my visit- 

 ing it. 



" The town of St. Mary, I will venture to say, has more 

 dogs, for its population, than any village this side of the 

 Esquimaux country. Every white man, half breed, and 

 Indian has more of them than a Virginia farmer has cows 

 and horses ; it is a wonder where they all get enough to ' pit 

 their paunch in.' Barbier says that dead horse, dead cow, 

 dead dog, or an3rfching they can steal, from a spermaceti 

 candle to a pair of greased moccasins, does not come amiss to 

 them ; and, as our old friend. Jack Tancil, of Warrenton, says 

 of his hounds, ' they are everlastingly sarching.' As there is 

 no dog law in St. Mary, the tribe does not diminish. 



" I found a portion of the tribe of Chippewas encamped at 

 the lower end of the rapids, just above the village. Barbier 

 §ays they live here entirely on Whitefish, which they take 

 with the spear and dip-net. The latter resembles the common 

 dip-net we have seen used at Fairmount dam on the Schuyl- 

 kill ; the handle, though, is longer, and is bent near the bow 

 of the net — I have seen the Indians take Whitefish with it. 

 They go in their birch canoes to the foot of the rapid, two in 

 a boat ; the one in the bow, who generally has an old coat or 

 blanket tied in front like an apron, to keep off the spray, 

 holds the net ; the other in the stern, by the ready use of his 

 paddle or pole, keeps the head of the cockle-shell in its 

 proper direction, while his companion in the bow finds the 

 fish, and by dexterously casting his net over the prey, gives it 

 a turn sideways and secures it. The net appeared always to 

 be pressed downwards, as if the fish was forced towards the 

 bottom, and then turned apparently to prevent its escape; 

 and I suppose this is why the handle has that peculiar bend 

 near the bow. These Whitefish are as large as Shad, and are 



