560 



EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



n^ 



Dr. Bessels, speaking of Itah Eskiiuoof Foulke Fiord in Smith Sound, 

 says : "The catkins of tbe arctic willow are used as tinder to catch tbe 

 sparks produced by grinding two pieces of stone. Also 

 the widely diftnsed ' fire-drill' is found here; the spindle 

 is held between a piece of bone and a fragment of semi- 

 decayed wood, and is set in motion by the well-known 

 bow, and is turned until the wood begins to ignite."* 



The "tire-bag" is an accompaniment to all sorts of fire- 

 making apparatus. The fire-bag shown (fig. 27, pi. 

 Lxxv) was collected by Captain Hall, at Holsteinberg, 

 western Greenland in 1860. It is made of sealskin, and 

 is a good specimen of the excellent needlework of these 

 Eskimo. It was used to carry, more especially, the fire- 

 drill and tinder which require to be kept very dry. 



There is a wide gap in the collections of the Museum 

 between the locality of the specimen just mentioned, and 

 the fire hearth from the Mackenzie River (fig. 28). This 

 specimen is from Fort Simpson presum- 

 ably, where B. li. Koss collected. It is 

 said to be difiQcult to discriminate the 

 Eskimo from the Indian on the lower ffifi?'' 

 Mackenzie. This hearth may be Indian, 

 as it has that appearance; besides, no 

 Eskimo hearth yet observed has side 

 holes and slots like this without the Wii^Ki\ili'"y> 

 step. The Indians of this region are of 

 the great Athapascan stock of the North. 

 The close resemblance of this stick to 

 the one from the Washoans of Nevada 

 has been commented upon. (See fig. 6, 

 p. 537.) 



There is also a very fine old central- 

 hole hearth from the Mackenzie River, 

 collected also by Mr. Ross. It is a rough 

 billet of branch wood, cut apparently 

 with an axe, or hatchet (fig. 29). It is 

 semi-decayed and worm-eaten. It has 

 ten central holes where fire has been 

 made ; they are quite deep, forming a 

 gutter in the middle of the hearth. There 

 is, as can be seen, no need of a groove, ^^I'i 

 as the dust falls over into the next hole. 



f 



Fig. 28. 

 LowkrPaktof 1, ,. ,. .. 



Fire- MAKING Set coliects lu a mass, and ignites. 



(on one end is gum 



for cement). ] 



(Cat. No. 1978. u. s. N. M.. * UiB amerikauisclie Nordpol - Expeditiou 



rkeny.je It.ver, B. C. 

 CojlecVeabyB. R, llos3.) 



Leipzig, p, 358, 



Fig. 29. 



L O W E K P A n T O F 



FiKE-MAKixG Set. 



(Cat. N". 1963, U.S. N. i\I. 

 Eskimo ot Mackenzie 

 River, B. C. Collected 

 ty B, R. R<)S3, ) 



