178 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



lutely necessary to their existence is abandoned. No. 10,842 

 was made by one of our party from a horn of the the first musk- 

 ox killed. It was carved out with a crooked knife; being kept 

 hot while it was worked by boiling or by holding over the fire. 

 It is 8 inches long, the bowl being 4.5 long by 2.3 wide with 

 sides 0.1 inch in thickness. 



Gun Cases. All the Northern Indians have a covering of cloth 

 or leather for their guns. These are usually of either moose or 

 caribouskin, ornamented with fringes of quill worked leather 

 strings, beads and bands of porcupine quills. The case is not 

 fastened in anyway and maybe readily slipped off so that it is 

 kept upon the gun until the hunter is about to shoot. Not 

 unfrequently a wing shot is lost by the gun cover catching on 

 the hammers in the excitement of the moment. I obtained a 

 well-worn specimen, No. 10,839, from the Dog Ribs. It is of 

 caribou leather, 52 inches long, 9 inches across the larger end, 

 2 at the other. It is made of two pieces with a single seam 

 along the side sewed with heavy sinew. It is not ornamented 

 save by a few tags of caribouskin at the smaller end. It is old, 

 torn and a poor cover even for an Indian to carry. 



There is another case, No 1,090, which was made by a Trout 

 Lake Indian woman, who had seen white people but on one or 

 two flying visits to Providence. It is of mooseskin, well made 

 and tastefully decorated. The butt is eight inches across and 

 ornamented by two bands of porcupine quills, worked with a 

 neat geometrical pattern in four colors and edged with beads. 

 It is gathered over the hammer by another broad band of quills, 

 and tapers slightly in the barrel to the muzzle which is sur- 

 rounded by quills and terminated by a number of moose leather 

 strings, 10 inches long, whipped at the base with quills. A simi- 

 lar but shorter fringe of caribouskin is sewed under each band 

 of quills. A half inch strip of strouding extends along the seam 

 from the muzzle to the band six inches from the butt. 



Game Bags. The various tribes of Athabascans use a game 

 bag of their own manufacture, which is everywhere of the same 

 pattern. It is woven from small babiche with an open mesh so 

 that the snow will fall through and it is at the same time very 

 light and strong. A line attached at the top passes across the 

 points of the shoulders and the breast when carrying a load. 

 No. 10,831 was obtained from the Dog Ribs. It is 20 inches 



