﻿DEEE POUNDS. 393 



and Crees, being that generally adopted for vapour 

 baths, which are framed of willow poles stuck into 

 the ground at each end ; but the lodges used by 

 these nations for dwelling places are cones, formed 

 by stiff poles meeting at the top. The lodges of 

 the Kutchin resemble the Eskimo snow huts in 

 shape, and also the yourts of the Asiatic Anadyrski. 

 When the Kutchin winter-lodge is raised, snow is 

 packed on the outside to half its height, and it is 

 lined equally high within with the young spray of 

 the sj)ruce fir, that the bodies of the inmates may 

 not rest against the cold wall. The doorway is 

 filled up by a double fold of skin, and the apart- 

 ment has the closeness and warmth, but not the 

 elegance, of a snow house. Mr. Murray remarks, 

 that though only a very small fire is usually kept 

 in the centre of the lodge, the warmth is as great as 

 in a log house. The provisions are stored on the 

 outside, under a covering of fir branches and snow, 

 and further protected from the depredations of the 

 dogs by the sledges being placed on the top. 



Mr. Bell informed me that, on the open hilly 

 downs frequented by rein-deer, the Kutchin have 

 formed pounds, towards which the animals are 

 conducted by two rows of stakes or trunks of trees 

 extending for miles. These rows converge, and as 

 the space between them narrows, they are con- 

 verted into a regular fence by the addition of 



