64 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



[Vol. IV. 



Apart from the above missile and cutting arms, the Carriers and 

 Babines possessed two other offensive weapons of stone, which they 

 called respectively, R^/ and thdl'tdK. 



The first is the war club of which at least two different types existed. 



Fig. 40 is a club of a grayish basaltic rock which has 

 been treated to a partial polish only, as its surface is 

 naturally smooth. A variety of the same was of bone, 

 or more generally of cariboo horn. Its shape and use 

 were identical, but its length was about double that of 

 the stone weapon. Fig. 41 represents a club of a different 

 and perhaps more common pattern. It is of carefully 

 pecked granite, and though the specimen illustrated is 

 imperfect, the base and knob being wanting, I have had 

 no difficulty in reconstituting it to its original form after 

 other similar weapons I have seen in several parts of 

 our district. To the knob at the small end was 

 fastened a buckskin line which, being firmly wound 

 around the wrist and hand of the warrior, ensured the 

 safe keeping of the weapon amidst the excitement of 

 the fray. 



Vvi. 41. 



The skull-crackers," vulgarly called "tommy-sticks," of the plain In- 

 dians of the North-West Territories, are well-known even to others than 

 archxologists. I have never suspected their presence among the ances- 

 tors of our present Dene population west of the Rockies until last year, 

 when the example (fig. 42) was found in Hwotsu'tin territory. It came as 

 a revelation upon the Carriers, none of whom was found who could do 

 more than guess its use. It is somewhat peculiar in appearance, and its 

 groove is but rudel}' and irregularly formed. 



Fi£ 



Yi sue. 



The innocent-looking little piece of partly polished stone designed in 

 fig. 43 was, in the hands of a Babine Indian, a rather treacherous 

 weapon. It is the temple-lancet or skull-cracker * referred to above. 

 After it had been securely hafted to a wooden handle three or four feet 



* ThdVtsw. 



