MURDOCH.] 



SLEDGES. 



LAN I) CONVKYAXCKS. 



Skdt/es. The only land conveyance employed at Point Barrow iis 

 the universal sledge of the Eskimo, of which there are two forms in 

 general use, one. ka mott, with a high rail on each side, and especially 

 intended for carrying loads of the smaller articles, clothing, camp 

 equipage, etc., and the other (uuia) low and flat, without rail or &quot;up- 

 stander,&quot; for carrying bulky objects, like whole carcasses of deer, frozen 

 seals, rough dried deerskins, etc., and especially used for carrying the 

 umiak across the land or solid ice. Both 

 kinds are made without nails, but are fast 

 ened together by mortises and lashings and 

 stitches of thong and whalebone. I have, 

 however, seen one unia, which was made in 

 1883, fastened together witli nails, a rather 

 inferior substitute for the lashings, as they 

 not only would not hold so firmly, but 

 would also be liable to break in cold 

 weather. 



Both kinds of sledge are made of drift 

 wood and shod with strips of whale s jaw, 

 about three-fourths of an inch thick, fas 

 tened on with bone treenails. These bone 

 runners, which are about 2 inches wide, run 

 sufficiently well over ice, hard snow, the 

 frozen gravel of the beach or even on the 

 bare tundra, but for carrying a heavy load over the softer snow of the 

 interior they are shod with ice in a manner peculiar to this region. 



It is well known that not only the Eskimo generally, but other hyper 

 borean people coat the runners of their sleds with ice to make them run 

 more smoothly, but this is usually only a comparatively thin crust, pro 

 duced by pouring water on the runners or applying a mixture of snow 

 or mud and water. 1 Mr. Turner informs me that at Ungava they are 

 particular to use fine black vegetable mold for this purpose. 



The method at Point Barrow is quite different from this. To each 



1 For example, Lyon says that at Fury and Herla Straits the runner** are coated with ire hy mixing 

 snow and fresh water (Journal, p. 2. t5) ; (See also Parry, 2d Voyage, p. 515). At Cumberland (Julf 

 &quot;they pour warmed blood on the under surface of the bone shoeing; Home use water, but this does 

 not last nearly so long as the blood and is more, apt to ehip off. 1 Kumlien, Contributions, p. 42; (See 

 also Hall, Arctic Researches, p. 582). Around Repulse Jiay they ice the runners by squirting over 

 them water which has been warmed in the mouth, putting on successive layers till they get a smooth 

 surface. This is renewed the first thing every morning. Gilder, Schwatka s Search, p. 66. A na 

 tive of the eastern shore of Labrador, according to Sir John Richardson (Searching Expedition, vol. 

 2, p. 82), applied to the runners coat after coat of earth or clay tempered with hot water, and then 

 washed the runners with water, polishing the ico with his naked hand. MacFarlane in his MS. 

 notes speaks of covering the sled runners with &quot;earth, water, and ice&quot; in the Mackenzie region. 

 I etitot (Monographic, etc., p. XVII) says the runners in the Mackenzie and Anderson district areshod 

 with &quot;un bonrrelet de linion et de glace. which has to bo often renewed. Nordenskiiild says that 

 at Pitlekaj &quot;the runners, before the start, are care-fully covered with a layer of ice from two to three 

 millimeters in thickness by repeatedly pouring water over them,&quot; (Vega, vol.2, p. 91). and accord 

 ing to Wrangell (Narrative, etc., p. 101, footnote) it is the common custom in northern Siberia to pour 

 water over the runners every evening to produce a thin crust of ice. 



Kill. :i5f&amp;gt;. -Old &quot;Chief with .stalls. 



&amp;lt;J ETH 



23 



