A CURIOUS BEVERAGE. 259 



to the process of flattening the head ; a pad or 

 compress is first put on the forehead, then ban- 

 daged tightly. The baby during this process is 

 strapped into the cradle; a long timber pole 

 placed obliquely, one end being fixed firmly in 

 the ground, serves to hang the cradle on. Thus 

 suspended, the child is kept continually jumped, 

 by a string fastened to the lower end of the cradle 

 and tugged at by a squaw. This primitive baby- 

 jumper evidently lulls the poor little sufferer, the 

 victim of an absurdly barbarous fashion. This 

 pressure is continued at intervals until the child 

 is able to run about. Other tribes make the 

 pressure round the head, and thus elevate the 

 vertex or crown so as to resemble a sugarloaf. 



At their festivities, the Fort Rupert Indians 

 use a most curious drink, which is thus prepared. 

 They gather the berries of the vaccinium in the 

 summer, before they are quite ripe, and press them 

 into a firm cake about half an inch thick ; this is 

 carefully dried in the sun, and wrapped in bark. 

 When this cake is to be used, about five ounces 

 of it are placed in a large vessel, and a small quan- 

 tity of cold water added. It is then stirred 

 rapidly round and round with the hand, which 

 must be perfectly free from grease, squeezed, and 

 worked into a pastelike form ; then more water is 



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