ETHNOLOGY. 41 



tious of the body, and Avould dry unevenly. When dry, it is ahnost as 

 stiff and hard as a board. Tliis skin is used mainly for the soles of 

 boots ; the i)attern is cut from the liide, and then chciced till it becomes 

 sufflcieutly softened to sew. Tliis last operation is also mainly per- 

 formed by the old squaws. When they are too old to sew, they become 

 oojoolc chewers as the last resort, and when their teeth fail them they 

 are better off in the grave. 



Seal-skins are also manufactured into drinking cups ; such cuj)s gen- 

 erally have a dei)th and diameter of about three inches. A short, 

 straight piece of bone, mostly the humerus of a gull or duck, is sewed 

 into the upper rim on one side, projecting outside about two inches and 

 a half; this serves for a handle. The hair side of the skin is used for 

 the inside of the vessel. Larger vessels, somewhat resembling a small 

 sack, w^ere used to carry water in at their encampments; but when out 

 traveling, they mostly carry their water suj^jjly in a seal's stomach, i)re- 

 pared for the purpose. 



We would naturally expect these people to be very expert in making 

 various devices for capturing their game in traps or snares. This does 

 not seem to be the case, however. They make a fox-trap, whicli is nothing 

 more than a little round hut of ice, with a hole in one side just large 

 enough for the fox to crawl into. Inside the hut is a large slab of ice, 

 which rests horizontally upon a small upright i)iece of ice ; the end of 

 the upright rests on the bait, and when tlie fox pulls at the meat he 

 draws the upright down, and the ice slab falls upon him and he is a sure 

 l^risoner. 



Another manner of catching foxes is to make an ice house much 

 larger, so high that a man can readily stand up in it. A small funnel- 

 shaped hole, just large enough to admit the fox, is made at the top of 

 the structure, and the bait is hung inside just out of his reach. The 

 fox will work a long time trying to secure it, and finally crawl in and 

 jump down u^ion the floor of the hut, but then he is unable to get out 

 again. 



A sort of snare is sometimes made for hares. It is nothing more than 

 a seal-skin line, with a number of slip-nooses uj)on it; this is laid across 

 the runs of the animals, or upon their feeding-grounds. They are often 

 caught in this manner; but the foxes are generally the only ones beue- 

 lited by the capture; all that the Eskimo finds is a little hair and a few 

 bones the next morning. 



Birds are sometimes snared in about the same manner, except that 



