420 CANOES. 



and half an inch wide, and quite thin. The base is expanded 

 and is inserted into the split end of the shaft, being kept in 

 its place by sinews. The shaft is about two feet and a half 

 long ; when intended for hunting it is expanded at the end, 

 so that when it is drawn out of the wound the arrow-head is 

 extracted also ; but the shafts of war-arrows taper to the end, 

 so that when they are drawn out the head remains behind. 



The knives are rudely made of obsidian, and are sometimes 

 fastened in handles of wood or horn. The graining tools for 

 preparing skins are sometimes of bone, sometimes of obsidian. 

 Mr. Wyeth does not describe their form. Awls were made 

 of bone ; large thorns also being sometimes used for the 

 purpose. Root- diggers are either made of horns, or of 

 crooked sticks pointed and hardened by fire. "The fish- 

 spear is a very simple and ingenious implement. The head 

 is of bone, to which a small strong line is attached near 

 the middle, connecting it with the shaft about two feet from 

 the point. "Near the forward end of this head there is a 

 small hole, which enters it ranging acutely towards the point 

 of the head ; it is quite shallow. In this hole the front end 

 of the shaft is placed." The shaft is of light willow, and 

 about ten feet long. When the fish is struck the shaft is 

 withdrawn, and the string at once pulls the bone end into a 

 transverse position. The fish-nets are made of bark, which 

 gives a very strong line, and are of two kinds, the scoop and 

 the seine. They are, however, unknown among the northern 

 tribes west of the Mackenzie.* The boats of the Shoshonees 

 hardly deserve the name, and seem to be used only for cross- 

 ing rivers. They are about eight feet long, and made of reeds, 

 but there is no attempt to make them water-tight. Other 

 tribes, however, have much better canoes, made either of 

 bark, or of a log hollowed out. The pipes are large, and 

 the bowl is generally of fuller's-earth, or of soapstone. The 

 * Richardson's Arctic Expedition, yol. ii., p. 25. 



