.&quot;&amp;gt; I 1 TIIK roiNT HAKKO\V KSKIMO. 



There is very little accessible detailed informtion regarding the 

 umiaks used in (lie rest of Alaska. From Dall s figure 1 and a few 

 modi-Is in the Museum, the Norton Sound umiak appears to have the 

 gunwales united at both stem and stern. Those that we saw at St. 

 Michael s in ISS. i, were so much modified by Russian ideas as to bo 

 wholly out of the lino of comparison. The same is true of the Aleutian 

 &quot;baidara.&quot; if, indeed, the latter be an umiak at all. 



THAVKl.INli UN FOOT. 



Snoicakoen (tiii/lii.) Snowshoes of a very efficient pattern and very 

 well made are now universally employed at Point Harrow. Although 

 the snow never lies very deep on the ground, and is apt to pile up in 

 hard drifts, it is sufficiently deep and soft in many places, especially on 

 the grassy parts ofthe tundra, to make walking without snow shoes very 

 inconvenient and fat-inning. 1 have even seen them used on the sea ice 

 for crossing level spaces when a few inches of snow had fallen. Prac 

 tically, every man in the two villages, and many of the women and 

 boys, have each their own pair of snowshoes, tittedto their six.e. Ivich 

 shoe- consists of a rim of light wood, bent into the shape of a pointed 

 oval, about five times as long as the greatest breadth, and much bent 

 up at tho rounded end, which is the* toe. The sides are braced apart 

 by two stout cross-bars (tor and href bar) a little farther apart than the 

 length of the wearer s foot. The space between these two bars is net 

 ted iu large meshes (foot netting) with stout thong for tho foot to rest 

 upon, and the spaces at tho ends are closely netted with line deerskin 

 babiche &quot;- (toe and heel netting). The straps for the foot are fastened 

 to the foot netting in such a way that while the strap is firmly fastened 

 round tin- ankle the snowshoe is slung to the toe. The wearer walks 

 with long swinging strides, lifting the toe ofthe shoe at each step, 

 while the tail or heel drags in the snow. The straps are so contrived 

 that the foot can be slipped in and out of them without touching them 

 with the fingers, a great advantage in cold weather. When deer hunt 

 ing, according to Lieut. Hay, they take a long piece of thong and knot 

 each end of it to the toe of one snowshoe. The bight is then looped 

 into the belt behind so that the snowshoes drag out of the way of the 

 heels. When they wish to put on the shoes they draw them up, insert 

 their feet in the straps, and fasten the slack of the lines into the belt 

 in front with a slip knot. When, however, they come to a piece of 

 ground where snowshoes are not needed, they kick them off. slip the 

 knots, and let them &quot;drop astern.&quot; 



We brought home three pairs of snowshoes, which represent very 

 well the form in general use. No. SSKU2 [1730], Fig. 350, has been 

 selected as the type. The rim is of willow, ,&quot;&amp;gt;! inches long and KU inches 



1 Alaska, p. 15. 



&quot; rwistol sinew is sometimes used. A pair of snowshoes from l*oint Barrow, owiu-il l&amp;gt;\ the writer, 

 r* urtutl with thin material. 



