202 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
Despite the ability shown by the Eskimo of this region in earving 
bone and ivory, I saw only two efforts made at modeling in clay beyond 
the manufacture of pots and lamps. These were both rude clay dolls, 
obtained at a village on the lower Yukon. 
A specimen of earthenware from St Michael (number 43068) is 9 inches 
high by 104 wide. Around the inside, near the top, occurs a series of 
small incised dots; on the inside of the rim are five parallel incised 
grooves, just below a broader groove which borders the edge; the 
upper surface of the edge is marked also with a shallow groove. 
Another vessel from the same locality has three lines of dots around its 
outer border, near the rim, with two sets of double parallel grooves, 
and just inside the slightly flaring rim are four roughly made grooves. 
From St Lawrence island were obtained some small clay vessels 
which were used for suspending over ignited lamps. One of these (fig- 
ure 13, plate xxvii) is 44 inches long, 34 wide, and 14 in depth. It 
is quadrate in outline, with rounded corners, each of which is provided 
with two holes through which are passed 
strips of whalebone by which it was sus- 
pended. A similar vessel from the same 
locality (number 63546) measures 6 inches 
in length, 42 in width, and 2 inches in 
depth; it has a small lug at each corner, 
near the upper edge, pierced for the recep- 
tion of the cord by which it was suspended 
over the lamp. Another of these small pots 
from the same place (figure 1, plate XXVIII) 
is oval at the ends, with the sides nearly 
parallel. It measures 54 inches in length 
by 3 broad, and a little over an inch in 
depth. Another specimen from the same island (number 62547) is fash- 
ioned like the preceding three vessels, all of which are too small for use 
in cooking food, and probably served for the purpose of trying out seal 
oil for use in the lamps. 
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Fic. 60—Clay pot from Hotham inlet. 
MATS, BASKETS, AND BAGS 
From the shore of Norton sound to the Kuskokwim the women are 
expert in weaving grass mats, baskets, and bags. Grass mats are used — 
on the sleeping benches and for wrapping around bedding. They are 
used also as sails for kaiaks, and formerly were utilized as sails for 
uniaks. They now frequently serve as curtains to partition off the 
corners of a room or a sleeping platform. Small mats are placed also 
in the manholes of kaiaks to serve as seats. The bags are used for 
storing fish, berries, and other food supplies, or for clothing. Smaller 
bags and baskets are made for containing small articles used in the 
house. 
At Chukwuk, on the lower Yukon, I saw a woman making one of 
