THE AINOS OF YEZO, JAPAN 471 



out the pole leaving the hand. They have wonderful sight for fiah under water. 

 Their dexterity is induced by their using the spear almost from iufaucy. You can 

 not go on the river any day during the salmon-trout season, provided the water 

 is clear enough, without meeting brown urchins of all sizes prowling along under 

 the steep banks in small canoes, or crouching on fallen tree-trunks, peering down 

 through the interstices of masses of driftwood, with their spears ready for a dart 

 at the fish. It is very pretty to see the men chasing the fish in their canoes, in 

 which they stand upright and guide back and forth by usiug the blind eud of their 

 spear pole, at times making suddeu rushes with cries of excitement to head oft" a fish; 

 at others allowing the canoe to float down with the current, while they scan every 

 inch of the water to detect a passing or stationary fish, with their spears poised at 

 arm's length above the head ready for a strike, standing often on the gunwale of the 

 canoe in order to get a downward view into thewater. Their positions often in such 

 cases are grand, while their features, worked up to the highest expression of expect- 

 ancy, make a most animated picture of savage life. The Aino seems then really in 

 his element, even more so than when, mounted bareback on a horse with only a rope 

 halter, he is seen flying over plain, swinging a lasso around his head, driving a herd 

 of half wild ponies toward a corral. 



Mr. Blackistou describes a peculiar method of catching salmon, as 

 follows: 



On the Kaminokuni River T found the people preparing salmon weirs, which they 

 build of stakes, brush, and mats, funnel-shaped, near the bauk in such a way that 

 most of the fish must pass through them. At night they squat alongside, having a 

 gaff fitted to a pole, limber at its end. This they keep on the bottom or allow to drift 

 along the bottom inside the weir, and when they feel a fish jumping over the stick, 

 suddenly jerk it toward them and so gaff the salmon. 



Another form of spear, double-headed, is also shown in Fig. 85. This 

 two-headed spear is used for spearing seals, whales, turtles, and large 

 fish. The two bone or iron barbs are merely pressed on the tips of the 

 shaft, so as to be readily disconnected and left in the body of the animal. 

 They are screwed to the ends of a tough strip of hide, to the middle of 

 which is attached the long braided rope. The shaft is 11 feet in length 

 and has a crotch at the end over which the line passes. 



It is customary to poison the heads for seal fishing. The manner of 

 using this spear is shown in Plate cix, taken from, a Japanese draw- 

 ing. Here and there along rapid streams the Ainos build dams of stone 

 and brush wood, which cause the water to flow through narrow aper- 

 tures with unusual force. Just below these openings large flat plat- 

 forms of boards are placed. The fish, swimming up the current, reach 

 these dams, and in attempting to pass the obstructions some of them 

 fail, and the force of the water throws them upon the platforms, where 

 the fisherman easily secures them. The native fish-nets are made of 

 the strong twisted linden bark. The fisheries of the coast are very im- 

 portant, but as conducted now they can scarcely be regarded as an 

 Aino industry, since they are controlled by the Japanese who engage 

 the Ainos in the work. Immense numbers of herring are converted 

 into an excellent fertilizer, which is shipped to enrich the soil of the 

 main island, and even tons of the beautiful and valuable salmon-trout, 

 or spriug-salmou, as it is called on the west coast of the United States, 



