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325 



and Bushmen all attribute them to small fish — called Chub by 

 the whites and Awadosi (stone carriers) by the Indians.^ Per- 

 sonally I have made numerous inquiries but I have not been able 

 to find any one who will say he has actually seen the fish at work, 

 still they all insist that it is the fish who make them. A careful 

 examination of over one hundred heaps, scattered along a line of 

 gravel more than three hundred miles in length has convinced the 

 writer that the cones are of animal origin, that the materials have 

 been assembled by some intelligent agent, not by stream action. 



These heaps of stones are said to be built in the early spring 

 and are presumably used for spawning purposes. They are 

 always in places where the water is smooth but still flowing. 

 Except in the very beds of the rivers of this north country, pebble 

 and gravel beds and bars are not found. The shores of the 

 streams are almost universally clay. At liiuh water tlic rivers 

 expand and invade the woods so tliat. as one ot' iny canoemen 

 expressed it "The pike go into the l)nsli to Innit."' In midstream 

 the water is usually flowing veiy swiftly at higli water and along 



' Bell. Robert. Recent Explorations to the South of Hudson Bay. The 

 Geographical Journal, July, 1897. p. 16. 



