€38 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



tlie hollowed oat portions accommodate the instep and knee joint. It 

 was secured by thongs and probably with a band or garter. The holes 

 along the upper edge are probably for attaching the greave to the 

 cuissard. 



Charlevoix, in speaking of the Iroquois, says : 



Tbey had even formerly a kind of mail for the arms and thighs made of the same 

 material,* i. e., small pliable sticks pretty well wrought.! 



The resemblance between the culture of the west and east coasts of 

 North America is striking in other instances. 



Many of the figures in the Mexican codices and sculptures wear a 

 covering around the calf of the leg, which may be the greave. In the 

 sculptures from Yucatan this greave or legging seems to be of horizontal 

 bands and square plates. 



The rod type of armor of the western area is well represented by 

 specimens in the National Museum. All the examples extant range 

 from Sitka to northern California in a region comparatively lately 

 ■explored. 



The rod and slat types are mixed; in the method of twining together 

 the elements they are identical. In some localities the broad band of 

 rods is alone found, while among the Tlingits, or around Sitka, occur 

 rod armor, slat armor, and a combination of both types in the same 

 piece, as well as skin armor. 



In form the Aleut armor, instead of following the Eskimo type, 

 belongs with the rod type of the Indians. The perforation of the 

 rods, however, and the method of lashing, show Eskimo handiwork. 

 D'Orbigny says : ^'Les amies defensives consistaient en une cotte de 

 joncs tresses qui leur couvrait tout le corps." | 



Dr. W. H. Dall, during his exploration of the caves of the Aleutian 

 Islands, found the armor figured in pis. 11 and 12.§ " Under the 



* Charlevoix, F. X. de, Vol. i, p. 338, Lond., 1761. 



i Id., Letters to the Duchess of Lesdiguieres, p. 143, Lond., 1763. 



i D'Orbigny, Voyages, p. 579. 



§ DESCRIPTION OF PLATES 11 AND 12. 



Plate 11, rod armor. — Made up of two series of cedar rods, one-half inch in diame- 

 ter and different lengths, painted red. The lower series containing 68 rods; the 

 upper series, two side sections of 10 rods and a curved piece each, and a central sec- 

 tion containing 22 rods with curved side pieces. The rods are perforated through 

 either end and held in series by a sewing of finely plaited sinew cord, the cord being 

 brought through the hole in the first rod, leaving two long ends. These are brought 

 past each other froni opposite sides through the hole in the next I'od, and so forth. 

 The sections are joined by a rickrack lashing, engaging with the horizontal sewing. 

 The rods are perforated from side to aide and a thin rod of whalebone drawn 

 through, rendering the armor llexible. At the lower and upper edges of the armor 

 the ends of the rods are chamfered. There are two wooden toggles on the right side. 



Plate 12, rod armor. — Same coat as shown in pi. 11, doubled together, showing the 

 position upon the body in wearing the armor. This view shows also a portion of 

 the inner side and the projecting ends of the whalebone binding strip which has 

 been broken. Width, 40 inches; height, 25 inches. (Cat. No. 17249, U.S.N.M. 

 From a burial cave in the Island of Amaknak. Collected by E. Hennig.) 



