470 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



the form of hard lumps. Specimens of the plant from which the 



poison is obtained were also collected 

 and determined by Mr. Tlieo. Holm as 

 Aconitum .Japonicunr. In some parts of 

 the country it grows in great abundance, 

 and the fine purple flowers are very pleas- 

 ing to the eye. 



Small animals are caught in rude, but 

 rather ingenious bow traps. The bow is 

 set in a frame, as in a crossbow. The heavy 

 arrow-shaft is notched on the side to receive 

 the bowstring and carries a T-head„ When 

 the trap is set, the bait is placed between the 

 T-head and the end of the frame, in such a 

 mauner that any attempt to remove it 

 releases the string, and the T-head comes 

 down and securely holds the animal. 



In deer-shooting they have a peculiar 

 instrument made of bone and bamboo with 

 jjj || II teeth like a comb, with which they can 



imitate the cry of a deer. Concealed in 

 ambush, the hunter thus calls the animal 

 within range of his bow. 



Fishing, asatpresent conducted, is mostly 

 in the hands of the Japanese. This is 

 particularly true of the coast fisheries. 

 Aino settlements are occasionally to be 

 found along the banks of the larger rivers 

 and their important tributaries, where the 

 most primitive devices are still in use. 

 Perhaps the most curious of their devices 

 is a kind of spear, which is shown in Fig. 85. 

 This is lashed to a long shaft, and is used 

 for spearing salmon from canoes or on the 

 river bank. The curved gaff is made of 

 iron. It is secured to a line passing through 

 the spear end, and the shank rests in a 

 groove in one side, as shown. When the 

 fish is struck, the gaff turns over, as repre- 

 sented by the dotted line, and hooks into 

 the flesh, held only by the line or strip of 

 hide, by which the fish is pulled in. Mr. 

 Blackiston has described the use of this 

 spear in the following words : 



They [the A11103] five expert in the use of the 



spear, ofteu striking a iish in motion as inneh as 3 



under water- at some yards' distance, but generally the lish is "jabbeu" with- 



Tig. 85. 



Needle fok Making Fish- 

 nets. 



