THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



by Sir John Ross in 1830. Later the ships commanded by Sir 

 John Frankhn were crushed by the ice near the coasts inhabited 

 by this tribe, and the whole crew perished in their territory. 

 Ever since that time the Eskimo of this district have utilized the 

 copper and brass which they found on the lost ships to make 

 their kettles, knives and other implements. In the collection 



MAP OF NORTHERN PART OF NORTH AMERICA, SHOWlNo REGIONS REPRESENTED IN THE 

 ETHNOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS IN THE MUSEUM 



made by Captain Comer there are a great many objects which are 

 made of metal obtained from Sir John Franklin's ships. 



Perhaps the most interesting of all the specimens in the col- 

 lection is a shaman's coat, which is figured on page 2. The coat 

 is made of caribou skin, and ornamented with figures cut out of 

 the white skin from the foot of the caribou. It is the only known 

 specimen of a shaman's coat used by an Eskimo, and it is inter- 

 esting because it resembles in many details the shamans' coats 

 used by the tribes of northeastern Siberia. Tlie circles and the 



