320 EEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



and makes it stick well. A fungoid growth from the hemlock tree by 

 various treatment becomes yellow, red, or black. When decayed to 

 a powdery consistency, it is yellow ; when roasted, it is red ; and 

 when charred, black. The Chilkat get the brilliant yellow for their 

 blankets from a kind of moss called sekhone. Paint-brushes have been 

 described in Chap, v, and are illustrated in Plate XL v. The stone 

 mortars and pestles for grinding paint are similar to those shown in 

 Figs. 337 and 339, Plate lxiii, for preparing native tobacco. 



Metal worMng. — The tools with which the Indian artisan works out 

 the surprisingly well-finished metal ornaments and implements of this 

 region are simple and few in number. For bracelet making the silver- 

 smith has a hammer, several cold chisels, and an etching tool which is 

 merely a sharpened steel point.or edge. Improvised iron anvils replace 

 the stone implements of this kind doubtlessly used in former days. The 

 details of bracelet making are given in Chapter iv. Copper is beaten 

 into the required shapes. Steel tools now used are very deftly tem- 

 pered and sharpened by the native artisan, who retains the primitive 

 form of his implement or tool, and merely substitutes the steel for the 

 former stone blade or head. The ingenuity which the Indians show 

 in adapting iron and steel to their own uses is but one of the many 

 evidences of their cleverness and intelligence. 



Lutnber and icood-worJc. — Incidental to the description of tools, houses, 

 canoes, etc., allusions have been made to the expertnessof the Indians 

 in getting out lumber in the rough from the forests. The tools employed 

 in wood-work have been described, but it is a never failing source of 

 wonder to Europeans that they can accomplish so much with so little. 

 Portlock (1787) observes: 



It is very surprising to see how well they [Tlingit] will shape their boards with 

 the shocking tools they employ; some of them being full 10 feet long, 2^ feet broad, 

 and not more than an inch thick. * 



It is, however, still more surprising to see the exquisite finish 

 wrought on the rattles, head-dresses, masks, etc., in the relief carving 

 for which these Indians of the north are famous. 



PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, AND CARVINGS. 



The pictographic art of these Indians is illustrated in nearly all the 

 accompanying plates. A few details need to be added to explain the 

 significance and trace the origin of the designs so lavishly bestowed 

 upon nearly every article of personal and household property. The 

 early voyagers were much struck by the artistic abilities of these peo- 

 ple, and Dixon (1787) voices this feeling when he says of the Tlingit 

 and Haida : 



Many of these carvings are well proportioned and executed with a considerable de- 

 gree of ingenuity, which appears rather extraordinary amongst a people so remote 

 from civilized refinment. t 



* Portlock, Voyage, p. 292. t Dixon, Voyage, p. 243. 



