A CURIOUS BEVERAGE. 259 
to the process of flattening the head; a pad or 
compress is first put on the forehead, then ban- 
daged tightly. The baby during this process is 
strapped into the cradle; a long timber pole 
placed obliquely, one end being fixed firmly in 
the ground, serves to hang the cradle on. Thus 
suspended, the child is kept continually jumped, 
by a string fastened to the lower end of the cradle 
and tugged at by a squaw. This primitive baby- 
jumper evidently lulls the poor little sufferer, the 
victim of an absurdly barbarous fashion. This 
pressure is continued at intervals until the child 
is able to run about. Other tribes make the 
pressure round the head, and thus elevate the 
vertex or crown so as to resemble a sugarloaf. 
At their festivities, the Fort Rupert Indians 
use a most curious drink, which is thus prepared. 
They gather the berries of the vaccinium in the 
summer, before they are quite ripe, and press them 
into a firm cake about half an inch thick; this is 
carefully dried in the sun, and wrapped in bark. 
When this cake is to be used, about five ounces ° 
of it are placed in a large vessel, and a small quan- 
tity of cold water added. It is then stirred 
rapidly round and round with the hand, which 
must be perfectly free from grease, squeezed, and 
worked into a pastelike form; then more water is 
a 2 
