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



pointed to as the elements of native " writing." The two last are taken 

 from rock inscriptions. They are now unintelligible to the Carriers. 

 Here is the meaning of the others : — a, bird ; b, lizard ; c, beaver ; d, 

 bear ; e, lynx ; f, cariboo ; g, marten ; //, canoe ; z, woman ; j, man ; k, 

 snake. 



These are generally drawn in charcoal on trees or, by exception, on 

 stones, and as such it must be confessed that they afford but a very 

 restricted medium of expression to the native mind. It has therefore to 

 call into requisition any other material means which may be at hand, 

 and it must be said that the use made of them is sometimes wonderful. 

 I was lately travelling in the forest at a time when the yearly re- 

 appearance of the salmon was eagerly looked for. At a certain spot not 

 very far from a stream we came upon one of those aboriginal drawings 

 made by an old man who had no knowledge of the syllabic signs now 

 used to write the D^ne languages. The drawing represented a man with 

 a woman, a horse with a burden, the emblem of a bear with three marks 

 underneath, and a cariboo. Above the whole and hanging from a broken 

 branch were four pieces of young bark cut out in the conventional form 

 of the fish. Now the message was instantly read by my companions, 

 and it ran thus : " Such a one (whom they named)* has passed here with 

 his wife, and a good load of furs, after having killed three bears and one 

 cariboo; and furthermore he captured four salmon two days ago. He is 

 now gone in the direction that we follow ourselves." This date could 

 evidently not have been told had the Indian marked with charcoal the 

 sign of the salmon. He was so well aware of this and was so much 

 intent upon fixing the time of the first appearance of the fish that he 

 had had recourse to the pieces of bark, the relative degree of freshness 

 of which he knew could easily be determined by the experienced eye of 

 his fellow Carrier. 



This leads me to detail the various non-graphic means of communication 

 between the different bands of huntsmen. Does the traveller intend to 

 mark his passage in the forest ? He cuts a switch or rod and plants it 

 in his trail pointing to the direction he is following. Is he in distress, 

 and does he beg for succour at the hands of those who he knows shall 

 pass by the same trail .-' Forthwith he breaks or bends the top of as 

 many shrubs as possible all along his path. No native party will profess 

 ignorance of his meaning nor, as a rule, leave unheeded his appeal. 

 Other significant combinations will be found sketched in our last figure. 

 Thus b, a stick broken by the middle, means : "we are going to camp a 



* They identified him by the very circumstance that he travelled with a horse, as he was the 

 only oae likely to pass there who possessed such an animal. 



