276 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT (ETH. ANN. 18 
antler hollowed out and fitted with a cap of wood or antler at each 
end. Some are made from the butts of walrus tusks hollowed out and 
fitted with covers, and others are of wood or bone. 
One of these boxes, from Hotham inlet (figure 7, plate LXxxXvII), is 
made from a piece of walrus ivory and shaped something like the hoof 
of areindeer. About its upper end is sewed a piece of cloth provided 
with a puckering string for closing it. The surface is plain, except for 
a series of circles and dots which extend around its upper border. 
A box from Golofnin bay (figure 5, plate LXXxXvI1) is made from the 
butt of a large walrus tusk, and has a wooden bottom held in place by 
wooden pins set through holes drilled in the ivory. The sides of this 
box, which have been split, are repaired with small copper clamps and 
a sinew cord wound around the middle. The top is neatly made of 
walrus ivory, oval in outline, with a sunken shoulder to fit in the open- 
ing of the box. In the back are two holes through which a rawhide 
cord is passed and tied; the cord then runs up through a hole in the 
edge of the cover and along a slot on the top, then down again near 
the front edge and through a hole just below the top of the box, from 
which hangs its free end. By the use of this simple contrivance the 
cover can be raised or closed without danger of dropping it. This 
device for the covers of these boxes is in common use along the coast 
from the Yukon mouth to Kotzebue sound. 
A specimen from Hotham inlet (plate LXxxxvu, 4) is made from a 
piece of reindeer antler and has a wooden bottom held in place by 
snugly fitting the outline of the box. The top is a simple wooden piece 
with a short rawhide cord, with a knot in its end, projecting from the 
middle of the upper surface, by which it can be lifted out. The box is 
oval in shape, and has incised lines in pairs around the outside, dividing 
it into four nearly equal sections, in which are etched a variety of fig- 
ures, including birds, mammals, boats, sledges, trees, waterfowl, and 
people. The etching is deep and is rendered very distinct by having 
dark-reddish coloring matter rubbed into the incised lines. On one 
side is etched the raven totem, with a cirele and dot just in front, simi- 
lar to the mark described as existing on a kashim cover at Kigiktauik, 
and undoubtedly intended to represent the same idea of the raven’s 
tracks in the snow, with the mark left where it had eaten meat (see 
figure 116, page 325). 
Number 64184 is a tall box of walrus ivory, flattened-oval in shape, 
also from Hotham inlet. Around the base ou one side are etched the 
figures of six reindeer; on the other side is represented a house with 
an elevated cache and a man shooting at the hindmost of the deer. 
Around the upper border is carved a zigzag pattern, pendent from 
which is a series of raven totem marks. On another specimen of simi- 
lar shape, from Razbinsky, on the lower Yukon, each of the borders is 
ornamented with a zigzag pattern and with raven totem marks extend- 
ing thence toward the middle of the box. 3 
