L So EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



there are eleven cylindrical tags of tin pinched upon the ends 

 of short thongs. These make a loud rattling noise which the 

 dogs recognize as a danger signal. I saw but one which was 

 more elaborately carved and this was unfortunately lost when 

 returning from the musk-ox hunt. The metis usually have a 

 large bunch of worsted on the handle to prevent the whip from 

 sinking from sight when dropped in soft snow. The whip is 

 usually carried with a bight of the lash drawn under the belt. 



Rattle. A child's rattle is sometimes made by the Dog Ribs 

 of shot and caribouskin parchment. I obtained a specimen, 

 No. 10,827, which has a handle of birch bent in the form of an 

 elongated figure 6. It is 8 inches long. The head is 3 inches 

 in diameter and 0.8 inch in thickness. 



Idol. Old Ooskanatchet, of the Narrows of the Saskatche- 

 wan, made a small image for me, which he said represented the 

 Cree death angel — the Pauguk, one of the most dreaded of the 

 heathen deities. The figure, No. 9,610, is of moose leather 

 stuffed with rags. The body and arms are sewed with a welt 

 which projects half an inch and is cut in a fringe. There is an 

 extra piece over each shoulder and a narrow apron in front, also 

 fringed. The head is a flat piece of birch wood with a hole 

 drilled through for a mouth and two leaden plugs for eyes; the 

 face is concave and the back of the head convex. The face, 

 shoulder and arm fringes and the middle of the legs are colored 

 a deep crimson, probably with a dye obtained from the trader. 

 The sides of the head are burned black with a hot iron. 



Pipes. The Indians now use imported clay and wooden pipes 

 and only two stone pipes were seen in the North, both of which 

 were collected. One of these, No. 9,594, is of fine-grained 

 sandstone, discolored and darkened through long use. It is 

 ornamented with incised lines next the stem and with rows 

 of irregular circular depressions around the top and base of 

 the bowl. It is 2.3 inches deep and 1.4 inches across the top 

 of the bowl. The base is quadrangular, I inch across and 3 

 inches long. The stem is 16.4 inches long and 0.6 of an inch 

 in diameter. 



The other, No. 9,632, is of fine grained schist with a brass 

 finger ring around the top of the bowl. It is well made but 

 without ornament except two incised lines upon one side of the 

 base. The bowl is 0.8 inches across the top and 2.3 inches deep. 

 The base is 1.7 inches long, 0.8 wide and 0.3 thick. 



