3()-2 Tin: rmxT bakhow Eskimo. 



skin, uatlicrinic aii.l strctc-liiii.u- tlie strip witli tb.' left liaiid. They do 

 this"\n.ii<(iuit.M:ii)i(ll\ and witli -ivat sldll, cutliii^;- single lines upward 

 „f !t(> n-ct long and linly one eiglitli incli in diameter, almost perfectly 

 ev.-n. Tlicsc liiic lines of scal-slvin tlnmi;-, uliicli serve a i;reat variety ot 

 pnrposes. are nsnally made wlien they are in tlie snmnier eam|)s, before 

 tiie lireaidni:- niiol' liie ice. Tliey are dried by streteliing tlieni between 

 slalies (i iuelies „r a lb,,l lii-li, diiven into tlie ground. 



The stout thon-s of the hide of the bearded seal, walrus, or beluga 

 are nsnallv made in I he winter and stri'tehed to dry between posts of 

 whales' boiu'S set u\> in the village, abont breast high. While they are 

 dryiu"-, the maker i-aiet'nll\- trims and sca-aiies the edges with his knife, 



so as to make an al si Kiund line.' The usual diameter is about 0-3 



inch. These liiH's are not always made with such care, being often 

 nverelv Hat thont;s. h'ine deerskin twine, or '"babiche," as it is called 

 by the vovau-eurs. foi' nmking the uettings of snow shoes, is made in the 

 same w ay. A deer skin is damiiened, rolled up, and put up over the lamp 

 tbr a day or two to remove the hair by sweating, and then cut into a 

 single long piece ot line thong. 



All the men do not appear able to «lo this fine 

 work. For instance, our friend MhTnaln had the 

 )al)iehe for his new snowshoes made by his house- 

 nate, the yonnger Tnha/.n. When it is desired 

 o fasten togelher two pieces of the st(mter kinds 

 .f thong, what I lmv<' so often referred to as the 

 -double-slit splice" is generally emidoyed. This 

 ,„-_,„,„..„•>,.,-..,.. '"^ made as follows: 'fhe two ends to be joined to- 

 ' rurnnvhiii.- lin.s, gether are each slit lengthwise, and one is passed 

 through the slit in the othca-. The other end of this pieei' is then passed 

 through the slit in the tirst piece, and drawn through so that the sides 

 of each slit interlace like the loops of a s.piare knot (see diagrams, Fig. 

 ;!(IL'). The si)liee is often birthei' seemed by a seizing of sinew braid. 

 Most writers on the Kskinu. have not gone sntlicienlly into the details of 

 Iheii- arts to de.siaibe their methods of splicing. One wiiter.-' however, 

 in iles(ailiing some f'.skimo implements from Bast (Ireeidand, describes 

 and ligures se\-eial splices somewhat of this nature, and (UU' in particu- 

 lar es])ecially eomi)licaIed by crossing the sides of the slits and passing 

 the en<l throngli si'V.Mal times. This mc^thod of uniting thongs is prob- 

 ably vi'is general aiuiMig the Hskimo ami is also common enough among 



liUlLDERS' TOOLS. 



For i\rcin-(itiuij.—\\ tlie present day they are very glad to use white 

 men's picks and shovels when they want to dig in the gravel or elean 

 out the ice from their houses. They, however, have mattocks and pick 



■clil.l. r .li.-.iril.os a .■..iiiil.ir |rio.i.,^ of niaiiiil'itctnriTif: tlu-si- lines at nuds..ir.s Kay. (Scbwatka's 

 ■'W.J. Solhw, ill Jour. Allllir(i|i. Iiisl. cf llrcat Itiitaiu and Ir.-land, vol. 9, lili. :i29-336. 



