1685.1 '^-'-^ [Gatschet. 



erer, mentions this peculiar habit, and so does J. de Laet, Orbis Xovus, 

 pg. 34: "uterque sexus non modum cutem sed et vestimenta rubrica 

 quadara tingit," etc. This ochre they obtained, e. g., at Red Ochre island, 

 Conception Bay, and mixed it with fat or grease to use it as a substance 

 for daubing. 



The Micmac Indians called them Macquaejeet, Uluo mequaegit, the 

 Abnakis Ulnobah (Latham), in which alno, ulno means man, Indian. 



ETHNOLOGIC NOTES. 



From earlier periods we possess but few notices conveying graphic 

 sketches of the appearance and daily life of the Beothuk Indians. The 

 most important have been gathered and published in Lloyd's articles ; 

 hence we can afford to be brief on the subject, for the Journal containing 

 his sketches is within easy reach of everybody, who is interested in the 

 matter. We especially recommend Lloyd's first article, with its numerous 

 historic references. 



Joann. de Laet, pg.34 (1633), writes of them as follows : "Statura cor- 

 poris sunt mediocri, capillis nigris, lata facie, simis naribus, grandibus 

 oculis ; mares omnes sunt imberbes ; uterque sexus non modo cutem sed 



et vestimenta rubrica quadam tingit Mapalia {lodges) quse- 



dam atque humiles casas incolunt e lignis in orbem dispasitis et in fastigio 

 conjunctis .... Vagi seepius habitationcs mutant." De Laet also 

 gives a description of their curious semilunar or crescent-shaped birch- 

 bark canoes, resting upon a sharp keel or bottom, and needing considera- 

 ble ballast to resist upsetting ; they were not over twenty feet long, and 

 could carry five men at the utmost. Cf. pictures in Lloyd's Treatises. 

 The Micmac Indians of Newfoundland use skins instead of birch-bark in 

 the manufacture of their canoes ; cf. Note to Lloyd, iv, p. 26. 



Remains have been found of their wigwams, consisting of a frame of 

 slender poles and covered with birch rind, thirty to foity feet in circum- 

 ference ; about 1810 a group of twelve of these lodges stood near Cat Har- 

 bor (Tocque, Newf , p. 504) ; and many other ruined settlements of 

 theirs were discovered in recent years. 



John Peyton describes the Beothuks he saw on Red Indian Lake and else- 

 where, as follows {Jukes, ii, 126) : "They were fierce and savage (dreaded 

 by the whites), lived entirely by fishing and hunting, and made their wig- 

 wams Oif skins, not of bark like the Micmacs ; these structures were raised 

 with much skill on wooden platforms. Their dresses were made of deer- 

 skins, smeared with ochre, like their implements and persons. They were 

 great thieves, .... and the French had a greater hatred of them 

 than the English." Pg. 132-133, Jukes describes their deer- fences, a 

 series of stockades of trees often running for thirty miles along a river. 



Extract from Bonnycastle, p. 266 : The Beothuks used the inner bark 

 of Pinus balsamifera as food. On the lakes near New Bay, conical winter 

 wigwams (mamatech) were discovered, holding about twenty people 

 each, and vestiges of numerous summer lodges were found in the vicinity ; 



