Note 61 — PART I

My own Mohave Rod is of ’ihora, the red willow of that district, barked and straightened by an ingenious Indian method. The line is of the prepared bast of ’ido, another species of willow, and the hook of barrel cactus thorn. Hooks made out of Echinocactus wislizeni are better adapted for fish which do not nibble at the bait, but bolt it hook and all; for this reason the Indians fasten the bait below the hook (E. Palmer, “Fish-hooks of the Mohave Indians,” American Naturalist, vol. xii. p. 403). On the north-west coast the Indians a generation ago invariably used spruce-wood for their halibut hooks (Rau, p. 139). Some Maori hooks are of human bone and pawa, with kiwi feathers.