NELSOX] 



WATERPROOF GARMENTS — EAR-FLAPS 



37 



liood about the face is provided with a similar string, the ends of 

 which hang down under the chin so that this portion of the garment 

 may be drawn tightly for the same purpose. These garments are worn 

 over the others during wet weather on shore as well as at sea. Their 

 most important use, however, is while the hunters are at sea in kaiaks. 

 At such times, when the weather becomes rainy or rough, the hunter 

 dons his waterproof frock and the skirt is extended over the rim of 

 the manhole in which he sits. A cord provided for the purpose is 

 wound around the outside, fastening the border of the skirt down into a 

 sunken groove left for the purpose below the rim on the outside of the 

 kaiak. When this cord is made fast and the drawstrings about the face 

 and sleeves are tightened, the occupant of the kaiak is safe from being 

 drenched by the dashing spray, and no water can enter his boat. 



These garments are 

 strong and will fre- 

 quently withstand the 

 pressure of the water 

 even when the wearer is 

 entirely submerged be- 

 neath the combing sea. 

 Among the breakers, 

 however, they are not to 

 be relied on, as the writ- 

 er knows from experi- 

 ence, the weight of the 

 water striking heavily 

 from above, tearing 

 them and permitting 

 the water to enter the 

 boat. 



The seams of these 

 waterproofs are f r e - 

 quently ornamented by 

 sewing in seals' bristles 

 or the fine hair-like feathers of certain waterfowl. About the islands 

 in Bering strait and on the bordering Asiatic shore the horny sheaths 

 from the base of the mandibles of the crested anklet are sewed along 

 the seams of some of these frocks as ornaments. Narrow strips of black, 

 parchment-like tanned skin are frequently welted into the seams for 

 ornamental purposes, and the lower borders are" sometimes narrowly 

 fringed with a strip of woolly fur from small hair-seals. Garments of 

 this kind made for the use of women are cut up on each side to produce 

 flaps similar to those of the ordinary frock. 



Ear-flaps (i). 



EAR-FLAPS 



About Ohalitmut and the adjacent district on the tundra between 

 the Kuskokwim and the Yukon, where men's frocks are made without 



