116 MICMAO INDIANS OF NOVA SCOTIA 







brought into this country as it is entirely uii-Micmac in char- 

 acter. More-modern Micmac stone pipes, formed with steel 

 tools, are ornamented with incised circles and lines, a style of 

 ornamentation still prevalent in Micmac work of various kinds. 



A few pierced tablets (flat, polished slate stones, with one 

 or two small round holes in them) are in the Provincial 

 Museum, and the Patterson collection contains one. They have 

 been supposed by some to have been used in shaping bowstrings, 

 but their use here, as elsewhere, is obscure. 



Two snake-shaped rings of white limestone, probably 

 artificial, are in the Provincial Museum, and if of man's work- 

 manship, must have been charm-stones, possibly connected with 

 snake-worship. 



Portions of two long stone tubes (just such as have been 

 described by Schoolcraft from the Ohio mounds) were found 

 many years ago at Dartmouth and are now in our Museum. 

 They are of similar stone to that of the lizard pipe previously 

 described. They show very great skill in manufacture. One 

 end is entirely open, while the other has but a small hole in it. 

 Various theories have been advanced as to the use of such 

 implements were found in America. The Micmac chief, 

 John Koel,, told me that tradition says they were used, in the 

 manner of a syringe, for administering a medicated solution 

 per rectum. This is at least a novel explanation, and is noted 

 for what it may be worth. 



Some pieces of worked copper have been found, consisting 

 of hammered nuggets of native copper, rough knife-shaped 

 implements ; and piercers ; all made from the native copper of 

 the trap of the Bay of Fundy. 



Bone implements are uncommon, but there are several 

 specimens in the Provincial Museum and the Patterson collec- 

 tion, namely, piercers, fish-spears, ivory harpoon-points 

 (similar to those used by the Eskimo) and pieces of walrus 

 ivory. 



