362 FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [92] 



shaping the canoe. At present, however, they possess rude axes for 

 rough hewing, and a peculiar form of chisel which may be used like a 

 cooper's adze. Still, the process is very slow. The Indian is guided 

 solely by the eye in modeling his canoe, and seldom, if ever, uses a 

 measure of any kind, yet his lines are perfect and graceful. He also 

 bends the wood, when necessary, by steaming it. The inside of the log 

 is filled with water, which is heated with red-hot stones, a slow fire 

 being made on the outside, near enough to warm the cedar without 

 burning it. As the projections for the head and stern pieces cannot be 

 cut from the same log, they are carved from separate pieces and 

 "scarfed" by means of cedar withes held in their places by wooden 

 pegs. The joints by this process are so perfectly matched as to be 

 water-tight without calking. When the canoe is finished the interior 

 is painted with a mixture of oil and red ocher. Sometimes charcoal 

 and oil are rubbed on the outside, but more commonly it is simply 

 charred, the surface being rubbed smooth with grass or cedar twigs. 

 The paddles are made of yew, and are usually procured from the Clyo- 

 quots. The blade is broad, but tapers at the point. The paddles are 

 also blackened by charring them in the fire, and afterwards polished. 

 The sails were formerly made of mats of cedar bark, and such are still 

 used by some of the Olyoquots, though some of the tribes in the vicinity 

 now use cotton sails. The usual form is square, with yards at top and 

 bottom, and the sail may be rapidly hoisted or lowered by means of a 

 line which passes through a hole in the top of the mast. By rolling 

 the sail around the lower yard it can be let out orshortened, as the occa- 

 sion may require. Some of the Indians have adopted sprit-sails, but 

 they are not in general use. 



Blankets, which constitute the principal item of wealth, are made of 

 feathers or down, of dog's hair, and of cedar bark. The manufacture 

 of mats is the principal employment of the females during the winter, 

 and for this purpose cedar bark is chiefly used. Baskets of various 

 kinds are also made of this bark, but those intended for carrying heavy 

 weights are made from spruce roots. Conical hats for the Indians are 

 made of spruce roots split into fine fibers and plaited so as to be imper- 

 vious to water, and painted of a black ground with red figures. The 

 black is produced by grinding bituminous coal with salmon eggs, which 

 are chewed up and spit on a stone. The hats sold to white men, how- 

 ever, resemble the common straw hat, and are made of spruce roots, 

 some being of a plain buff color, while others have woven designs of 

 various kinds. Recently they have commenced to cover bottles or vials 

 with basket-work, for sale to seekers of Indian curiosities. Their fish- 

 ing and whaling capes are made something like a "poncho," from cedar 

 bark or from strips of cloth or old blankets. Their bows are usually 

 made from yew, principally by the boys, and the arrows from split cedar. 

 The arrow-heads are made of pieces of wire, bone, wood and bone com- 

 bined, iron, or copper. The prongs of the bird-spears are made either 



