Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, November 1899: Volume LVI, No. 1Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, November 1899: Volume LVI, No. 1
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
To us, among many other instances of dog reasoning that came under
our notice as the years rolled on, was one on the part of a large,
powerful dog we called Cæsar. It occurred in the spring of the year,
when the snow had melted on the land, and so, with the first rains, was
swelling the rivers and creeks very considerably. On the lake before us
the ice was still a great solid mass, several feet in thickness. Near
our home was a now rapid stream that, rushing down into the lake, had
cut a delta of open water in the ice at its mouth. In this open place
Papanekis, one of my Indians, had placed a gill net for the purpose of
catching fish. Living, as he did, all winter principally upon the fish
caught the previous October or November and kept frozen for several
months hung up in the open air, we were naturally pleased to get the
fresh ones out of the water in the spring. Papanekis had so arranged
his net, by fastening a couple of ropes about sixty feet long, one at
each end, that when it was securely fastened at each side of the stream
it was carried out into this open deltalike space by the force of the
current, and there hung like the capital letter U. Its upper side was
kept in position by light-wooded floats, while medium-sized stones, as
sinkers, steadied it below.
Every morning Papanekis would take a basket and, being followed by
all the dogs of the kennels, would visit his net. Placed as we have
described, he required no canoe or boat in order to overhaul it and
take from it the fish there caught. All he had to do was to seize hold
of the rope at the end fastened on the shore and draw it toward him. As
he kept pulling it in, the deep bend in it gradually straightened out
until the net was reached. His work was now to secure the fish as he
gradually drew in the net and coiled it at his feet. The width of the
opening in the water being about sixty feet, the result was that when
he had in this way overhauled his net he had about reached the end of
the rope attached to the other side. When all the fish in the net were
secured, all Papanekis had to do to reset the net was to throw some
of it out in the right position in the stream. Here the force of the
running waters acting upon it soon carried the whole net down into the
open place as far as the two ropes fastened on the shores would admit.
Papanekis, after placing the best fish in his basket for consumption
in the mission house and for his own family, divided what was left
among the eager dogs that had accompanied him. This work went on for
several days, and the supply of fish continued to increase, much to our
satisfaction.
One day Papanekis came into my study in a state of great perturbation.
He was generally such a quiet, stoical sort of an Indian that I was at
once attracted by his mental disquietude. On asking the reason why he
was so troubled, he at once blurted out, "Master, there is some strange
animal visiting our net!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account