ETHNOLOGY. 41 



tions of the body, ami would dry uiioAcnly. Wliou dry, it is almost as 

 Stiff and hard as a boar<l. This skin is used mainly for the soles of 

 hoots ; the pattern is cut from the hide, and then chewed till it becomes 

 sufhcicntly soitcned to sew. This last ojunation is also jnainly pcr- 

 iormed by tlie old scjuaws. When they are too old to sew, tliey become 

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

 iire better off in the jirave. 



Seal-skins are also manufactured into drinkinj^' cups ; such cups gen- 

 erally luive a depth and diameter of about three inches. A short, 

 straight j)iece of bone, nu)stly tlH> humerus of a gull or duck, is sewed 

 into the upper rim on one side, pi<)je<'ting outsi<le about two inches and 

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

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

 saek, were used to (;arry water in at their encami)ments ; but when out 

 traveling, they nu)stly carry their water supply in a seal's stomach, pre- 

 pared for the purpose. 



We would naturally expect theso i)eople to be very expert in making 

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

 3iot seem to be the case, however. They make a fox-trap, which 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 piece of ice ; the end of 

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

 •<lraws the upright down, and the ice slab falls ui)ou him and he is a sure 

 ])risoner. 



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

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

 .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 Ihially crawl in and 

 jump down uj^on the floor ol" the hut, but then he is unable to gtit out 

 again. 



A sort of snare is sometimes made for hares. It is nothing moj-e than 

 a seal-skin line, with a number of sli]) nooses u]>on it; this is laid across 

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

 cauglit in this manner; but the foxes are generally the only ones bene- 

 lited by the cai)ture; 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 



