136 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



and here I take the liberty to refer the reader to wJiat 1 have said of 

 their costumes, their habitations, the implements they use in lumting 

 and fishing, and their divers methods of preserving berries and edil)le 

 roots. 



The Carriers who, since the advent of the whites, have proved to 

 te the most amenable to civilization, of the four tribes treatetl of 

 may be said to have been formerly the least industrious. Among them> 

 ■we find no trace of basket work of any kind, and they formerly im- 

 ported from the coast some of the most useful of their working 

 implements such as axes and adzes. Owing to the ab.sence of moun- 

 tain goat in their country, they also depended upon the Sekanais and 

 the Atnas for their supply of spoons and other household utensils 

 which, among the Aborigines, are usually manufactured from the 

 ''horns of that animal. 



Birch bark was substituted among them for willow basket work. 

 They employed it in making vessels or dishes of any size and shape ; 

 the fibrous roots of spruce split in four parts was used in lieu of 

 thread. One kind of these vessels, remarkal>le by the absence of &ny~ 

 seam (the bark being simply folded up on its four corners and so re- 

 tained by a split encircling switch) did service as a kettle or boiler. 

 Therein they boiled meat or roots as they now do in tin and coj^per 

 kettles, but with the difference that they had to kee[) it away from 

 the flames. They are still loud in their praise of its usefulnes.s as a 

 rapid boiler. On grand occasions, they were replaced by lai-ge spruce 

 bark vessels built on the ground or squai-e wooden boxes imported 

 from among the Atnas wherein, when tilled with water and meat,, 

 heated stones were repeatedly thrown until tlie meat was boiled. 



Instead of bark vessels, the Chilh;>^otins use spruce root for making- 

 neat and sometimes elaborately ornamented baskets and other ves.sels 

 which are impermeable to water, indeed one kind, which may con- 

 tain eight or nine gallons, serves to keep water for household puTpo.ses. 

 I regret to be unable to minutely describe their method of weaving 

 the spruce splints, not having any of these baskets in my collection 

 of Indian cm-iosities, and having neglected to watch their mode of 

 working when stationed among them in years past. I had ample- 

 opportunities to do so. However, I am stronglj' inclined to believe- 



