154 THE ARCTIC PRAIRIES 



the ground by the trail. It was inscribed as here- 

 with. 



"What is that Sousi?" "It's a notice from Chief 

 William that Swiggert wants men on the portage," 

 and he translated it literally: "The fat white man 

 5 scows, small white man 2 scows, gone down, men 

 wanted for Rapids, Johnnie Bolette this letter for you. 

 (Signed) Chief William." 



Each of our guides in succession had shown a simi- 

 lar familiarity with the script of his people, and many 



^ — ^ 



Chipewyan inscription with interpretation 



times we found spideresque characters on tree or stone 

 that supplied valuable information. They could, how- 

 ever, tell me nothing of its age or origin, simply "We 

 all do it; it is easy." 



At Fort Resolution I met the Jesuit fathers and got 

 the desired chance of learning about the Chipewyan 

 script. 



First, it is not a true alphabet, but a syllabic; not 

 letters, but syllables, are indicated by each character; 

 73 characters are all that are needed to express the 

 whole language. It is so simple and stenographic that 

 the fathers often use it as a rapid way of writing 

 French. It has, however, the disadvantage of am- 

 biguity at times. Any Indian boy can learn it in a 

 week or two; practically all the Indians use it. What 

 a commentary on our own cumbrous and illogical spell- 



