GILPIN ON THE STONE AGE OF NOVA SCOTIA. 221 



Our Indian was clothed ; he wore a waist belt of leather prepa- 

 red from moose or caribou skin, an end or flap of which passed 

 between his legs and fastened behind ; over this was a cloak of 

 skins, tied by a leather thong about the neck. In camp he usually 

 cast this cloak off, and went with one arm bare. Neither sex wore 

 any covering upon the head, and the w^oman was clothed alike, 

 except that a belt kept her cloak tight to her figure. When ex- 

 posed on the water, or hunting in the snow, he put on long sleeves 

 of skin, fastened to each other by a thong, and long stockings 

 of the same, reaching and tied to his waist belt. These *' hosen " 

 were ornamented on the outside by tags of leather. These tags or 

 fringe is the universal ornament of the entire continent, seen in the 

 present suits of the Rocky Mountains, and found in the selvaged 

 and scarlet edge of the blue cloth stocking of our day. The 

 custom of tying the fur mitten about the neck is still preserved by 

 the Labrador settlers, though lost by the Indian. Stout moccasins 

 complete his dress. His wants were simple : food, shelter, and 

 defence. The easiest obtained food was fish, consequently he fish- 

 ed eight months of the year on the sea-coast. Smelts, herring, 

 shad, gaspereux, salmon, trout, and eels, were taken, by damming 

 the rivers with stone and wooden dams, and leaving an opening 

 through which the fish in passing and returning from spawning 

 must pass, and be taken by spearing, or in a basket. Shell fish 

 always furnished an inexhaustible supply. The ocean fish were 

 taken by bone hook, though already the steel hook was beginning 

 to supplant them. When the winter drove the fish to deep sound- 

 ings, then his food was the flesh of moose, caribou, bear, beaver, 

 with the smaller game of hares and raccoons. In moving from 

 the sea coast to the interior forest, he needed some vehicle to trans- 

 port his few properties ; the skins and bark for his wigwam, his 

 rude pots, his bows arid arrows, and weapons of defence or the 

 chase. The canoe built of birch bark was always on hand. (A 

 smaller boat of platted willows covered with gum seems to have 

 been lost out of all tradition.) His shelter, his camp or wigwam 

 may be seen unchanged at the present day, with its poles drawn to 

 a top centre, its covering of bark, and its spreading circle below, or 

 in the rude circular stone walls which may still be seen standing on 



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