In the central part of the country they use a spear made of a thin reed and tipped with thorns of the nopal.  Sometimes it is shot from a diminutive bow, like an arrow.  But a more interesting way is to hurl it by means of a primitive throwing-stick, which is nothing but a freshly cut twig from a willow (jaria) about six inches long, left in its natural state except for the flattening of one end on one side.  The spear is held in the left hand, the stick in the right.  The flat part of the latter is placed against the end of the spear, which is slightly flattened on two sides, while the end is squarely cut off.  By pressing one against the other, the throwing-stick is bent, and sufficient force is produced by its rebound to make the spear pierce small fish.  Many a Tarahumare may be seen standing immovable on the bank of a streamlet, waiting patiently for a fish to come, and as soon as he has hit it throwing himself into the water to grab it.

But a more profitable way of catching fish is by poisoning the water.  In the highlands a kind of polygonum is used for this purpose.  It is pounded with stones and thrown into the small corrals.  When the fishing is to be done on a somewhat extensive scale, two species of agave—­the amole (the soap-plant) and the soke—­are used, and many households join in the sport.  First of all maguey plants have to be collected, and wine made, as this is indispensable to the success of the undertaking.  At the place selected for the fishing the people assemble, and two managers are appointed, one for each side of the river.  It is their duty to see that everything is done in the right and proper way and all the requisite ceremonies are observed.  The women are a couple of hundred yards back cooking herbs and making pinole for the men to eat.  No pregnant women are allowed to be present, as then the fish would not die.

Half-circular corrals of stone are built to intercept the fish that drift along, irrespective of any private traps that may be found on the place.  Fish caught in the latter belong to those who put up the traps.  While constructing these corrals, the men catch a few fish with their hands, between the rocks, open them in the back and give them to the women, to broil.  When they are done, the men pound the fish to a pulp, mix it with pinole, and roll the mass into a ball two or three inches in diameter.  One of the managers then goes down stream, below the corrals, and places the ball in a water pool.  It is a sacrifice to the master of the river, a large serpent (Walula), which makes an ugly noise.  Every river, water-hole, and spring has its serpent that causes the water to come up out of the earth.  They are all easily offended; and therefore the Tarahumares place their houses some little distance from the water, and when they travel avoid sleeping near it.