The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

In some specimens the head is fitted loosely on the shaft, and connected with it by means of a string, which is wound spirally round it, and when the fish is struck the head is shaken off the shaft, which serves both as a drag to aid in tiring the fish, and as a float by which its presence may be indicated.

The most ingenious of these arrows is used for shooting seals and the larger fish, and is very elaborately constructed. It measures about four feet in length, and is almost deserving of the name of harpoon rather than arrow.

The shaft is made of very light wood, and is about as thick as a man’s finger. At the butt-end it is feathered in the usual manner, and at the other it is terminated by a pear-shaped piece of bone an inch in diameter at the thickest part. Into the end of this bone is bored a small conical hole, which receives the head. This is also made of bone, and is very small in comparison with the arrow, and is furnished with two deeply cut barbs. As is the case with all harpoon weapons, the head is connected with the shaft by a line, but in this case there is a peculiarity about the line and its mode of attachment.

Instead of being a mere double-strand string, it is made of a number of fibres arranged in three strands, and plaited, not twisted together, so as to form a flat line, which possesses enormous strength combined with great elasticity and small size. The mode of attachment is as ingenious as the method of manufacture. The line is a double one, measuring twelve feet in length. The line is first doubled, the loop is put through a hole in the point and over the head, so as to secure it, and the two halves of the line are then lashed together about eighteen inches from the point. One end is then fastened to the arrow just below the feathers, and the other to the shaft just above the bone tip. The object of this arrangement is evident. As soon as a seal is struck, it dashes off, shaking the shaft from the barbed head, which remains in its body. Were the line simply tied to the end of the shaft, the wounded creature would easily drag it through the water. But, as the line is fastened to each end of the shaft and to the head besides, when the latter transfixes a seal it is separated from the shaft, and the shaft is drawn crosswise through the water, presenting so great a resistance that the seal becomes exhausted with its unavailing struggles, and comes to the surface, where it is despatched with a second or third weapon.

Besides the harpoon and fish arrow, these people also use the [hook] (see page 1357), which is quite as ingenious in its way as the implements which have been described. The body of the hook is of wood, and is exactly in the shape of the capital letter U. The point bends slightly outward, and is charred at the tip to render it harder. It is also defended and strengthened by a band of very tough vegetable fibre, which covers it for about three inches. The barb is a piece of bone, about five inches in length, sharpened like a needle at the point. This barb is not attached to the point, as is the case with the generality of hooks, but is fastened to the shank, and is so long that its tip reaches to the middle of the hook.

At first sight this seems a very inadequate arrangement for securing fish, and looks as if the creature could easily slip off the unguarded point. If, however, the hook, which is a very large one, be tested, it will be found astonishingly efficacious. If the point be inserted between the fingers, as it would be inserted into the jaws of a fish, and then brought upward, it will be found that the sharp barb effectually prevents the hook from being withdrawn.

There is one effect of this mode of fixing the barb which may or may not have been intended. Should, by any accident, the line become entangled with the hook, and reverse it, the fish is quite as secure, the long, straight barb forming a second hook, to which it is transferred. The body of this hook is made of the Douglas pine, and it is brought into shape by steaming. The hook is chiefly used for catching the halibut, as, for some reason, the Ahts will not use a steel hook in the capture of this fish.

There is plenty of game, both large and small, in these regions, though the chase is in all cases a severe one, and tests not only the skill but the endurance of the hunter. There is, for example, the black bear, which is a most valuable animal, its fur being used for clothing, and its flesh for food. Bear hunting is not carried on at all times of the year, but is generally followed toward the end of autumn, when the bears are fat, and about to enter their winter quarters. Sometimes the Ahts wait until the bear has gone into retirement, and then spear it in its winter home. Traps are in great favor, because they do not spoil the skin. They are very simple; the trap consisting of a tree trunk heavily loaded with stones, and suspended at one end over the animal’s track. It is kept in position by a trigger, to which is attached a slight rope crossing the track. It is always placed in some spot where a large stump or the root of a fallen tree allows the trap to be set without disturbing the appearance of the track.

Then there are one or two deer, the largest of which is the wapiti, commonly but erroneously called the elk. The hunter generally takes it by following its track, and stalking it as it feeds, when the powerful bow drives an arrow to its heart. The skill of the hunter is shown as much after the deer is dead as during the actual chase. Captain Mayne mentions that he has seen a wapiti killed, and in a quarter of an hour it has been skinned, the whole of the flesh removed from the bones, and the skin converted into moccasins. The natives have rather a strange way of carrying the meat. At their first halt after killing a deer, they cut the meat into pieces two or three inches square, transfix them with a long stick, and carry the stick upon their shoulder, every now and then pulling off a piece and eating it as they go along. In this manner the flesh of a deer vanishes in a wonderfully short time. Very little meat is preserved, the Ahts generally eating it as soon as the animal is killed.

As to the fish, there are so many that only one or two can be mentioned. The salmon is the fish that seems to be the most valued by these fish-eating tribes, and it is caught, as with us, in a variety of ways. Sometimes the natives use a rather curious fish spear, about fifteen feet long in the shaft, and with a double head, made of wapiti bone. The head is only slightly fixed in the shaft, to which it is attached by a line, as in the harpoon arrow already described. Should the fish be a very heavy one, the hunter merely ties to the line a number of inflated bladders, and causes it to tire itself by useless struggles before he risks the fracture of the line or loss of the barbed head, one or both of which events would probably happen if he were to try to secure a fresh and powerful fish.