22 THE GAME OF MET-ALA. 
or bearskin spread on the ground. Slaves, dogs, 
horses, and even a man’s wives, are frequently 
lost at this game. There is a beautiful set of 
these gambling-teeth in the Ethnographical 
Room of the British Museum, as well as strings 
of the dentalium, as strung for money, so that 
any person who may be curious on the subject 
can easily see them. 
The intrinsic value of the shell, as an article 
of barter, entirely depends upon its length; and 
the question as to whether the shell when pro- 
cured shall, figuratively speaking, represent a 
sovereign or a shilling, is calculated by the Indians 
in this way :—If twenty-five shells placed end to 
end measure a fathom or six feet in length, these 
twenty-five shells, when strung together side by 
side, are called a hi-qua. The squaws string 
them very neatly. A small bit of dried sinew, 
taken from the suspensory ligament of the rein- 
deer (here called the caribou), is passed through 
the shell, there being, as I have already said, a 
hole at each end. These transverse pieces of 
ligament are made securely fast to two lateral or 
side-cords, which side-cords are fastened together 
at each end; so that the string of shells, when 
complete, is like a ribbon made of holding-teeth. 
The string is generally ornamented most ela- 
