230 . PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



weapon. It is also proper to aay that forms as rude as ours occur in 

 New Zealand. The elk skin armor (Fig. 103) worn by warriors in battle 

 as protection from arrows is now nearly obsolete. These suits have 

 been worn by several generations, and in some of the modern battles 

 with the whites. The cusps and triangular figures are intended to 

 denote the number of enemies slain and Captives taken. It is worn 

 so as to cover the left side, with the left arm through the slit, the head 

 through the opening, and the tie on the right shoulder, and it is also 

 tied below the right arm. The arrow cuts and bullet marks were re- 

 ceived in battle. 



There is another kind of armor made of wattles and twine, woven and 

 bound with buckskin. (Fig. lOG.) This is worn in battle to protect the 

 body; it is tied across the breast from left to right. The red lines de- 

 note the number of enemies slain or captives taken, also the rank of 

 the wearer. 



This class of armor was ill common use among the ISTatanoand Kenuck 

 Indians before the introduction of fire-arms, but it is now nearly obso- 

 lete. This is the only complete suit which Lieutenant Eay was able to 

 obtain. 



BOAT BUILDING. 



As the redwood grows only along the Lower Klamath the Yurok 

 have a monopoly of making canoes; and they sell many to the Karok. 

 A canoe on the Klamath is not pointed like the Chijipewa canoe, but 

 the width at either end is equal to the tree's diameter. (Figs. 107, 108.) 

 On the great bar across the mouth of the river, and all along the coast 

 for 80 miles, there are tens of thousands of mighty redwoods cast up 

 on the strand, having been either floated down by the rivers or grubbed 

 down by the surf; hence the Indians are not obliged to fell any trees, 

 and have onl}^ to burn them into suitable lengths. In making the canoe 

 they spread pitch on whatever place they wish to reduce, and when it 

 has burned deep enough they clap on a piece of raw bark and extin- 

 guish the fire. By this means they round them out with wonderful 

 symmetry and elegance, leaving the sides and ends very thin and as 

 smooth as if they had been sand-papered. At the stern they burn and 

 polishi out a neat little bracket, wliich serves as a seat for tlie boatman. 

 They spend an infinity of puddering on these canoes, two Indians 

 sometimes working on one five or six months, burning, scraping, and 

 polishing with stones (nowadays they use iron tools and dispatch the 

 work in a few days). When completed they are sold for various sums, 

 ranging from $10 to $30, or even more. They are not as handsome as 

 the Smith ^Uver or the T'-sin-uk canoes, but quite as serviceable. 



A large . ;ie will carry 5 tons of merchandise, and in early days they 

 used to take many cargoes of fish from the Klamath, shooting the 

 dangerous rapids and surf at the mouth with consummate skill, going 

 boldlj^ to sea in heavy weather, and reaching Crescent City, 22 miles 

 distant, whence they returned with merchandise. When tliey are not 



