214 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
opposite side. The space between the front and rear crossbars occupies 
almost the entire area of the shoe and is crossed by a stout netting of 
rectangular pattern, with some of the strands passing diagonally, pro- 
ducing a combination of patterns. These coarsely netted shoes are 
intended for use upon frozen snow or on the rough surface of the sea 
ice, for which purposes they are very serviceable, as the masses of 
broken ice have many small openings large enough for the foot to pass 
through, which render traveling very difficult without such assistance. 
By aid of these shoes hunters are enabled to travel safely and fre- 
quently to pass over weak places where newly made ice would not 
otherwise support them. On the Asiatic coast the Eskimo use snow- 
shoes similar to those from St Lawrence island that have been 
described, and others rather more elongated but similar in general 
pattern. 
Fic. 66—Snowshoe from St Lawrence island. 
ICE STAFFS 
When traveling or hunting on the sea ice there is great risk of 
breaking through thin places which have been concealed by drifted 
snow. To guard against this danger the people are in the habit, at 
certain seasons, of carrying a stout wooden staff with a strong ivory 
or bone point, two or three inches long, inserted in the lower end and 
fastened by a strong wrapping of sinew. Around the base of this 
point is fastened a hoop of bone or deerhorn, hung to the staff by a 
cord passed through a hole above the point. A ring of bone or horn 
surrounds the base of the point, and between it and the outer hoop 
strong cross-lashings of rawhide form a sort of netting. 
In walking over suspicious places in the ice the traveler plants the 
staff solidly before him previous to taking a step; if the ice be thin the 
point of the staff goes through, but the hoop comes in contact with a 
broader surface and prevents the staff from sinking farther. In this way 
