18 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. IV. 



those of the Tse'kehne. Their eyes are also much larger and of a very 

 deep black. Baldness, though rare, is sometimes noticed among them, 

 while a few are literally obese. I am very much mistaken if two crania, 

 one of an individual of each of these tribes, would not be pronounced 

 by a craniologist as belonging to representatives of diametrically different 

 races. 



The TsijKoh'tin, on the other hand, are short in stature, broad faced 

 and broad shouldered, with prominent cheek bones, heavy jaws and a 

 nose which is not uncommonly thick and flattish. They may be said to 

 have some physical resemblance to the Chinese. This description 

 applies also to the Babines, who might be considered as a branch of the 

 Carriers. 



The only points in common between the three tribes are the dark 

 €yes, the black, coarse and straight hair and the small hands and feet. 

 Large hands and feet, however, are occasionally met with among Carrier 

 men.* I do not speak of the complexion, because it varies even in the 

 same tribe according to the occupation and food of the natives. A 

 hunter will never return from a tour of two or three months in the 

 woods without being considerably bronzed, while his fellow tribesman 

 who has remained at home, without being as white as a European, will 

 yet be fairer complexioned than most individuals of the Salish race of 

 the South. Even in the matter of beard, a notable difference is observ- 

 able, inasmuch as full beards, dark and coarse, heavy with hardly any 

 shaving, are by no means rare among the Babine sub-tribe, while the rest 

 of the Western Denes are remarkable for the scarcity, or sometimes the 

 total absence, of facial hair. 



If we now consider the Dene nation from a p.sychological standpoint, 

 the contrast between its divers branches will be still more startling. 

 The Northern Denes are generally pusillanimous, timid and cowardly. 

 Now, can this be said of the Apaches ? The Northern Denes are more- 

 over lazy, without skill or any artistic disposition. Is it so with the 

 Navajos ? Even among our Carriers, the proudest and most progressive 

 of all the Western tribes, hardly any summer passes off but some party 

 runs home panic stricken, and why ? They have heard, at some little 

 distance, some "men of the woods" evidently animated by murderous 

 designs, and have barely escaped with their lives. Thereupon great 

 commotion and tumult in the camp. Immediately everybody is charitably 

 warned not to venture alone in the forest, and after sunset every door is 



* I have also seen several really fair-haired Carriers, a peculiarity which is so much the more 

 remarkable as it certainly can not be ascribed to blood mixture with persons of Caucasian descent. 



