Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-01-22
FISHING IN ICELAND.
The Utensils With which the Eskimo
Fishermen Capture Their Prey.

The Utensils With which the Eskimo
Fishermen Capture Their Prey.
Wherever there is level field of thiA
seasons ice inclosed by lines of hum
mocks, the fish are sure to be plenty.
Such field as this, about half a mile
long, practically afforded a living to
most Of the people in the village during
the season of 1883, because that year
the ice was very unfavorable for seal
ing and food was pretty scarce in the
village.
The fishing is carried on mostly by
the women and children, though one or
two old men generally go out, and one
or two of the younger men, when they
can not go sealing and food is wanted
at the house, will join the fishing party.
Each fisherman is provided with a
long-handled ice-picls, which he fire.
quently leaves sticking in the snow
near the fishing ground, a long line
made of strips of whalebone, reeled
lengthwise on a slender wooden shuttle
about eighteen inches long, and pro-
vided with a copper sinker and two
pear-shaped Gigs of walrus ivory
armed with four barbless hooks of cop
per, and scoop or dipper made of rein
A~OA Shhb4C1S, WIFI Ii "OOucu udAGlS
about two feet long. Hardly an Eslzi-
stirs out of the house in the winter with
out one of these scoops in his hand.
To every party of two or three there
will also be a good-sized bag of seal
skin, generally made of piece of an
old kayak cover, for bringing home
the fish. Arriving at the fishing grounds
onh - I, IL
the ice, which is about four feet
thick, clearing out the chips with the
scoop. The ''jigs" are then let down
through the hole and enough line I'M
reeled to keep them just clear of the
about. The reel is held in the right
hand and serves as a short rod, while
the scoop is held in the left hand and
used to keep the hole clear of the scum
of the new ice, which, of course, is con-
stantly forming. The new line is kept
In constant motion, jerked up quickly a
short distance and then allowed to drop
back, SO that the little fish that are
nosing about the white ''jigs' after the
manner of Goldfish, are hooked about
the jaw or in the belly.
AS soon as the fishman feels fish on
LID AOOh uC 'CtktCASS up VI Vic
line with his scoop and another below
this with his reel and thus reels up the
line on these two sticks in loose coils until
the fish is brought to the surface, when a
slzilful toss throws him off the barb
less hook on the ice, where he gives one
convulsive flap and instantly freezes
solid. The elastic whalebone line is
thrown off the sticks without tangling.
and paid out through the hole again for
trial. If fish are not found plenty at
the first hole the fisherman shifts his
ground until he strikes school. They
are sometimes SO plenty that they may
be caught as fast as they can be hauled
up. One woman will frequently bring
in upward of bushel of little fish-they
are generally about five or six inches
long-from single days fishing. This
fishing lasts until about the middle of
May, when the ice begins to soften. A
good many are also caught along the
shore in November in about a foot of
water when there are no tide cracks
in the ice. AT this season the Esl1i-
mo use a little rod about two feet
long, with a short line and little ivory
squid, at which the fish bite.-Fores'
| and Stream.