SHOULDER BLADE READING 265 



to the end of this the joint end of the "blade" is 

 inserted to form a handle. It is then held over 

 red hot coals for a few seconds. The intense heat 

 causes the bone to crack in various directions, ac- 

 cording, of course, to the amount of heat to which 

 the different parts are subjected. As this can 

 seldom or never be exactly alike, the reading var- 

 ies. A long straight crack from end to end means 

 death or starvation. A short zig-zag one with- 

 out any branches means much trouble and hard- 

 ships. Cracks like the branches of a tree with 

 small roundish burnt spots on the edges indicate 

 plenty. When these spots are close to the stern 

 portion, it is a sign that the game they are seeking 

 is close at hand. If they are at the extremities 

 of the branches, the game is distant in proportion. 

 It is wonderful what an amount of reading some 

 of the experts can get out of these few cracks and 

 spots. * 



The largest burnt spot always indicates the 

 camp. If the bone burns very brown before 



* The illustration on the opposite page, from a photograph 

 of a bone actually used by an Indian hunter as above described, 

 shows what is considered a lucky burning. Fig. 1, is supposed to 

 represent the hunter and his wigwam a large darK patch. 

 Fig. 2 is a trail, in which direction it would be useless to go, as 

 there are no markings to represent game. Figures 3. 3. show two 

 trails, both of which lead to game, as shown by the brown portion 

 between the two lines. Figures 4 and 5 indicate the tracks and direction 

 in which the game is to be found. The hunter who owned this bone 

 and read its signs, assured me that on his first day's hunt after the 

 reading, he found and shot four caribou in the direction indicated and 

 added that for miles around in every other direction there was no other 

 game. The Indians' faith in this is unbounded. 



