NOTES ON THE WESTERN DENES. 



123 



1892-93.] 



The the[ is above all a berry basket, but it does also frequent service 

 as a drinking cup. Its size is subject to great variations, as it may con- 

 tain from one pint to two gallons. Both tca^ya^ and thei are to be seen 

 in every Carrier household, and the latter especially is used so extensively 

 that there is hardly any girl, however so poor, who does not possess her 

 berry basket. 



|Fig. 114- 



The vessel delineated in fig. 1 14 differs from the preceding in every 

 particular except material and the setting of its rim. It is shallow, and 

 almost rectangular in form, and the seams, instead of tapering from the 

 corners to the centre of the ends as in the above described, remain 

 confined to the corners. Fig. 115 will make it clear that its manufacture 

 offers no serious difficulty. Here again the dotted outlines point to 

 those portions of the bark which are cut off after the vessel has been 

 sewed. As its main destination is to hold liquid, though but for a short 

 time, whether this be water, grease, or berry juice, it is made perfectly 

 water tight. Its native name is t'sai, a Dene root, which means tray, 

 dish, or plate. The t'sai greatly vary in size, though they average a. 

 capacity of five gallons. 



Fig. 116. 



Very much resembling this vessel is the t'ps-fsai or fish tray (fig. 1 16),. 

 which however differs not a little as regards both make and finish. It is 

 without a single seam, the corners of the bark being merely folded up, 



