1896-97-] THE DEN^S OF AMERICA IDENTIFIED WITH THE TUNGUS OF ASIA. I97 



Mr. Mcintosh quotes Pennant as saying: "The Tongusi use canoes 

 made of birch bark distended over ribs of wood, and nicely sewed 

 together. The Canadian and many other American nations use no 

 other sort of boats. The paddles of the Tongusi are broad at each end ; 

 those of the people near Cook's River and of Onslascha are of the same 

 form." We know that Pennant is right, for the Tungus have a special 

 name for the birch bark* canoe which they call djalbau-dvan, the first 

 word denoting the birch tree. 



Mackenzie thus describes the canoes of the Dogribs : " Their canoes 

 are small, pointed at both ends, flat-bottomed, and covered in the 

 fore part. They are made of the bark of the birch-tree and fir-wood, but 

 of so slight a construction that the man whom one of these light vessels 

 bears on the water, can, in return, carry it overland without any 

 difficult}-. It is very seldom that more than one person embarks in 

 them, nor are they capable of receiving more than two. The paddles 

 are six feet long, one-half of which is occupied by a blade of about eight 

 inches wide." Hearne's description is as follows: "The canoes of the 

 Northern Indians are in form somewhat like a weaver's shuttle, having 

 flat bottoms, straight sides and pointed end. The stern is always much 

 larger than the bow, as generally intended to hold baggage and some- 

 times to be occupied by a second person, stretched at full length in the 

 bottom of the canoe. The man and the baggage cross rivers and the 

 narrower parts of lakes by means of these little crafts, which rarely 

 exceed from twelve to thirteen feet in length and from twenty inches to 

 two feet in their greatest beam. The bow of these canoes is elongated 

 and narrow ; it is covered with birch-bark which adds considerably to 

 the weight without adding anything to its usefulness. Generally the 

 Northern Indians make use of a single paddle, though some have a 

 second, like the Esquimaux ; but the latter is rarely employed, save 

 to club cariboo when crossing rivers or narrow lakes." Father Morice 

 says of the Carriers : " They use ' dug-out ' canoes made of the hollowed 

 out trunk of a large cotton-wood tree (Abies subalpijia). There is no 

 artistic merit in their design, which is of rather a rough description, for 

 we must not forget that ' dug-outs ' are, among them, a recent importa- 

 tion from the East. In the beginning of this century they used only 

 birch bark canoes." 



RITES AND CEREMONIE.S OF THE TUNGUS AND THE DENES. 



Abernethy states that " The Tongusi believe in the existence of a 

 supreme being, according to whose will they shall either conquer or 

 die. They call him the god of hosts, because on him, they 



