22 THE GAME OF MET-ALA. 



or bearskin spread on the ground. Slaves, dogs, 

 horses, and even a man's wives, are frequently 

 lost at this game. There is a beautiful set of 

 these gambling-teeth in the Ethnographical 

 Room of the British Museum, as well as strings 

 of the dentalium, as strung for money, so that 

 any person who may be curious on the subject 

 can easily see them. 



The intrinsic value of the shell, as an article 

 of barter, entirely depends upon its length ; and 

 the question as to whether the shell when pro- 

 cured shall, figuratively speaking, represent a 

 sovereign or a shilling, is calculated by the Indians 

 in this way : If twenty-five shells placed end to 

 end measure a fathom or six feet in length, these 

 twenty-five shells, when strung together side by 

 side, are called a lii-qua. The squaws string 

 them very neatly. A small bit of dried sinew, 

 taken from the suspensory ligament of the rein- 

 deer (here called the caribou), is passed through 

 the shell, there being, as I have already said, a 

 hole at each end. These transverse pieces of 

 ligament are made securely fast to two lateral or 

 side-cords, which side-cords are fastened together 

 at each end ; so that the string of shells, when 

 complete, is like a ribbon made of holding-teeth. 

 The string is generally ornamented most ela- 



