Page:Material Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos.djvu/76

ed by the bait, it slips and falls down through the opening, and can then be taken out through the door and killed. Formerly the opening at the top was often covered by means of strips of baleen, fastened at one end or, in the absence of baleen, the wing of a gull; then when the fox trod upon these, they bent inwards and he fell inside.^[1] A tower trap in Nyboe's Fjord measures 1½ m inside, 3 m outside diameter; 1,3 m high. One on Hammeren on Vansittart Island is oval, 4 m long, 2 m wide and 2 m high.

Wolves are likewise caught in a variety of ways, for instance in box-traps, arranged on the same principle as those for foxes, but bigger. Parry^[2] mentions ice box-traps for wolves on Winter Island.

Isiptjuraq is a rolled-up strip of baleen, held in this position by sinew-thread; it is enveloped in blubber or meat and thrown out; when the wolf has swallowed it, the sinew-thread is digested, the baleen strip straightens out suddenly and splits the stomach. A model of one of these made for us lacks the characteristic points on those of the Western Eskimos.^[3]

Other methods: Aloqissaq: A snow-knife of iron is laid on the ice with the edge upwards; snow is heaped over it and wetted with blood; the wolf licks the blood and continues until the knife-edge cuts its tongue and the animal bleeds to death. Tartangi: A piece of broken bottle is enveloped in snow, on which blood is poured, and this is swallowed by the wolf. Qâgititaq: A small snow house, with very thin walls, is built; meat is laid upon it, and on the floor inside is placed a knife with the point upwards; when the wolf attempts to take the meat the roof collapses and the wolf is spitted on the knife. Rae^[4] mentions from Repulse Bay another wolf trap: A hole is made in a large bank of snow, 2½–3 m deep, and it is covered with a thin slab of snow on which the bait is placed; around it is built a wall of snow over which the wolf can jump; it then falls into the narrow pit and cannot get up.

It is not strange that cunning methods have been thought out for the purpose of getting the better of the wolf, man's most dangerous and wise opponent. Not only do wolves attack human beings if they are unarmed or their power of resistance is lessened on account of hunger and sickness; but they also steal many dogs and depots of food. They are man's rivals in hunting the caribou and kill many foxes which have been caught in the steel traps; it happens now and then, however, that a wolf is caught in a trap of this sort; sometimes it succeeds in pulling the trap from its moorings, and then must run with it until the leg is cut through.