As, at the present day, the shipping and fishing industries are among the principal users of cordage, so it has been among all tribes and nations from earliest times. The people who lived on islands or the shores of large bodies of water, and who thus naturally became fishermen, have been the larger users of ropes and lines, and we find they always have been capable of producing a wide variety of fishing lines and nets of excellent construction, capable of capturing all sorts of fish, from the smallest brook trout to the huge sturgeon or halibut.
SCENE IN AN EGYPTIAN KITCHEN SHOWING USE OF A LARGE ROPE TO SUPPORT A SORT OF HANGING SHELF
Even the whale has been successfully hunted by some adventurous tribes, and we show a picture of lines made by the Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island,[A] which are used by them in harpooning whales. The smaller rope is made from sinews of the whale, served or wound with small cord. It is very pliable and exceedingly strong. The harpoon is fastened to this line, which, in turn, is fastened to the larger rope and that to the boat. The large rope shown is made from spruce roots and is about two inches in diameter.
[A] The photograph shown on [page 13] was taken expressly for us through the courtesy of the officials of the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass., to whom we are also indebted for our information concerning the use of rope among the various primitive tribes.
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELICS
BRIDLE OF HEMP ROPE COVERED WITH WOVEN COTTON—HALTER OF BRAIDED LEATHER BASKET WITH ROPE HANDLES—PALM FIBER ROPE
Ancient civilized peoples had their ropes and cordage, made from such materials as were available in their respective countries. The Egyptians are said to have made rope from leather thongs, and our illustration on [page 14] will be found interesting in this connection. This is from a sculpture taken from a tomb in Thebes of the time of the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
While this scene is said by the best authority to represent the preparation of leather cords for use in lacing sandals, it has been supposed by some to be a representation of rope-making. In any event, the process is undoubtedly the same as that used in making rope.