﻿382 KUTCHIN. 



cleanly appendage ; his example was followed by the 

 rest of his band, and Avill, it is to be hoped, spread 

 through the nation. The mittens, which the men 

 always carry with them, are also adorned with 

 shells, and some of these expensive appendages 

 are even attached to their guns. The women 

 wear fewer shells and beads, both of wliich have 

 a high value in the nation, especially the shells.* 



In winter, shirts of hare-skin are worn, and the 

 deer-sldn pantaloons have the fur next the skin. 

 On their journeys, travellers carry with them their 

 dress clothes, which they put on every evening 

 afte:^ encamping, and when they come to the 

 trading posts. None of the neighbouring nations 

 pay so much attention to personal cleanliness and 

 appearance. 



The arms of the men are a bow and arrow, a 

 knife, a dagger, and a spear, with a quiver hanging 

 on the left side, and suspended by an embellished 

 belt, which passes over the right shoulder. Fancy 

 handles and fluted blades are more valued than the 

 good temper of a knife; and this people complain 

 of the trouble of sharpening a hard steel weapon. 

 Not so the Central Eskimos, who try one knife 



* The shells, being several species o'i Dentalium, and Arenicola, 

 are collected in the Archipelago lying between the Oregon and 

 Cape Fairweather, and pass by trade from tribe to tribe. The 

 large-ribbed Dentalium is most prized. 



