The most interesting of these was a trap for catching gazelle. It consisted of a basketwork funnel, open at top and bottom. This was 7 inches long, 5½ in diameter at the top, tapering down to 2½ inches at the bottom. The trap is set at the foot of a bush where the gazelle are accustomed to feed. A hole is first excavated in the ground, and the funnel buried in this with the large end flush with the surface of the soil.
OLIVE MILL, RASHIDA.
Into its open end is fitted an arrangement like a hubless wheel, the rim of which is formed of plaited palm leaf, through which about thirty strong thorns from a date palm, representing the spokes, are passed; the points of these meet together in the centre. Resting on this wheel is placed a noose, at the end of a cord, the other end of which is tied to a small log of wood.
The trap is concealed by covering it with asses’ manure; the rope is covered with sand.
On putting its foot on the wheel, the gazelle goes through it where the hub should be, its foot is then held by the thorns till the noose has had time to tighten round it. The wheel then generally falls off, but the log attached to the rope so hampers the gazelle’s movements that it can be easily run down and caught.
OLIVE PRESS, RASHIDA.
There were several traps for catching birds; these seemed to be chiefly set for quail. One consisted of a hole in the ground with a slab of rock or a large clod, supported in position to form a sort of lid by an arrangement of sticks, like the familiar trap made of four bricks used in England. A few grains of wheat seemed to be the usual bait.
There was also a very ingenious net trap. This consisted of two semicircular nets, about eight inches in diameter, A and B, which, when the trap was set, were at right angles to each other. The curved portion of the frames of these nets were of jerid (mid ribs of the palm leaf), while the straight side of the semicircle was made of palm fibre rope. The framework thus formed was filled in with net, made of narrow strips from a palm leaf.