salmon trout. There were a number of holes--each of which was marked
by a spruce bough set upright in the snow--and the fishing was being
done with hook and line. The hook dangling below the ice about a third
of the water's depth, was held in position by a branch line to which
was attached a suitable sinker. The trout they had caught ran from ten
to thirty pounds each--as near as I could judge--and as the women had
already gained a good haul, they loaded their catch upon their sled and
returned home with us.

Gill nets are also used in the winter time. They are strung under the
ice beneath a series of holes by means of which the net is passed under
the ice with the aid of a pole. The lines being then secured at either
end, the net can be readily drawn back and forth for the purpose of
emptying and resetting. Of course, floats and sinkers are used to
spread the net and keep it in proper position. In some
localities--where the water is muddy--the nets are occasionally boiled
with willow bark to keep them from being destroyed by worms.

Gill nets, however, are frequently injured by animals, not only
amphibious ones such as beaver and otter, but even by such animals as
wolverines. Some years ago, a Yellowknife Indian hunting near Fort
Resolution had an experience of that kind. He having set a gill net
beneath the ice, failed to visit it for several days. When, however,
he did arrive, he saw that it had been tampered with, and found no
difficulty in reading the story in the snow. A wolverine, happening by
on a mild day when the fishing holes were open, began sniffing about
one of the poles to which the end lines of the net were secured; then
scenting the smell of fish, he began chewing the pole; and incidentally
his sharp teeth severed the cords that held the net. Then, for the
want of something better to do, he went to the other end, to which were