256 APPENDIX III. 



and equivalent to the ' Made Beaver ' of the Company. Some 

 tribes, especially the Kutch-a-Kutchin, are essentially traders, 

 and instead of hunting themselves they purchase their furs from 

 distant tribes, among whom they regularly make excursions. 

 Often the medicine-men and chiefs have more beads than they 

 can carry abroad with them, and when this happens the Com- 

 pany's stores are converted into banking establishments, where 

 the deposits are invested for safe keeping. The women are 

 much fewer in number, and live a much shorter time than the 

 men. The latter arises from their early marriages, harsh treat- 

 ment they receive, and laborious work which they have daily to 

 perform ; while the former is caused, I fear, by the cruel acts 

 of infanticide, which to female children have been so prevalent 

 among them. Praiseworthy efforts have been made by the 

 Company's officers to prevent it, but the anguished and hard- 

 ened mothers have replied that they did it to prevent the child 

 from experiencing the hardships they endured. 



The men much reminded me of the Plain tribes, with their ' 



* birds and feathers, nose-jewels of tin, and necklaces of brass,' and 

 plentiful supply of paint, which was almost the first time I had 

 seen it used in the district. Instead of the nose-jewels being 



* of tin,' they were composed of the Hyaqua shells, which gave 

 the expression of the face a singular appearance. The women 

 did not use much paint ; its absence was atoned for by tattooing, 

 which appeared universal among them. This singular custom 

 seems to be one of the most widely diffused practices of savage 

 life, and was not unknown among the ancients, as it, or some- 

 thing like it, seems to be forbidden to the Jews : ' Ye shall not 

 print any marks upon you,' Lev. xix. 28. 



Polygamy, as in almost all other barbarous nations, is very 

 prevalent among them, and is often the source of much domestic 

 unhappiness among them. The New-Zealander multiplies his 

 wives for show, but the object of the Kutchin is to have a 

 greater number of poor creatures whom he can use as beasts of 

 burden for hauling of his wood, carrying of his meat, and per- 

 forming the drudgery of his camp. They marry young, but no 

 courtship precedes, nor does any ceremony attend, the union. 



