PRESENT COMMERCE AMONG ARCTIC COAST ESKIMO. 25 



In travelling by sled these Eskimo make short halts every 

 four or five miles. Every such place is marked by a pile of 

 shavings, for they are eager to get their wares in shape for sale 

 on the coast ; besides, the finished article is lighter to carry than 

 the "rough" out of which it was made. 



All the people who come to Great Bear lake by a route west 

 of the Coppermine river find copper enough for their own use 

 in the mountains north of Dismal lake. There seems to be 

 plenty of the metal, but it is not found in such large masses nor 

 so pure as in Victoria island. It is well suited for arrow and 

 spear heads, however, though a piece large enough for a good 

 knife or ice-pick is only rarely found. Some of the copper 

 found here each summer is traded to members of the same 

 tribes who have hunted in copperless districts, but little or 

 none is sold to other tribes indeed, both Victoria island and Bath- 

 urst inlet are better supplied than they. Those who come to 

 Great Bear lake by a route east of the Coppermine river ap- 

 parently get their copper mainly from Bathurst inlet. 



The above-mentioned tribes that come to "Big Stick 

 island" embrace most of the people who seek the kettlestone 

 (soapstone) quarries on the Kogluktualuk (Tree river, about 

 long. 117 30' on the south coast of Coronation gulf). I have 

 heard of one case from Cape Bexley of a family going all the way 

 to the quarries to get a pot for their own use. This was con- 

 sidered at Cape Bexley a remarkable thing to do and the story 

 is frequently told even now, though the event took place over 

 twenty years ago. The woman of the family is still living. A 

 song she composed to commemorate the event is still one of the 

 most popular songs in Coronation gulf, as well as in the strait. 

 What the eastern limit of the pilgrimages may be, we had no 

 means to determine. It is probably not far east of the Kent 

 peninsula. 



But these distant tribes that occasionally send a family 

 to the quarries get most of their pots and lamps by purchase. 

 Wood and stone are, therefore, the export wares of the western 

 half of Coronation gulf to the eastern half of it, to Victoria island, 

 and to the Strait to the west. 



