QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 141 E 



as deep as wide. Seldom more than about fifteen inches in length. The 

 bottom in the larger of these vessels is frequently a separate flat piece 

 of wood neatly joined. One end of many of those dishes is carved to 

 represent the head of a beaver or other animal, while the other carries 

 a representation of the legs and tail (Figs. 30 and 32). Other carvings 

 may ornament the sides. This form is sometimes varied in the smaller 

 sizes by making the vertical profile of the longer edges correspond to a 

 graceful curve instead of keeping to one plane. Another modification 

 of this type is found in a dish to one end of which a broad, flat expan- 

 sion carved to represent the tail of a bird is fixed, while the head 

 projects from the opposite end. The bird is represented as lying on 

 its back when the dish is in its proper position, the hollow being made 

 apparently in the bird's breast. One of these is represented in Fig. 33. 

 Very large dishes are still occasionally, and were formerly frequently Large wooden 

 made for use, in feasts given by chiefs, &c. One of these had a general troughs, 

 form like that of the first described kind of dish, but was nearby square, 

 the sides being 3 feet 8 inches. It was composed of four side pieces 

 and a bottom piece neatly pegged together, while the edge was 

 surrounded by a double row of opercula. Another form seen in one of 

 the old houses on Parry Passage is a parallel-sided trough six or eight 

 feet long, with a head carved at one end, a tail and pair of swimming- 

 feet at the other, the whole being supposed to represent a sea-lion. 

 Still another pattern was found in a shallow, gracefully shaped tray 

 5 feet 6 inches long, and about one-third as wide. The ends of this 

 were obtusely pointed and overhung, while above, a flat sjDace between 

 each extremity and the end of the hollow within, bore a complicated 

 pattern in incised lines. 



The stone mortars already mentioned as having been employed in the stone mortars, 

 preparation of the native tobacco, now seem to be little if at all 

 used for any purpose. They are generally circular in outline and 

 without ornamentation, being in some cases very roughly made. 

 Other examples are ornamented by carving. A plain circular mortar 

 of rather greater size than usual was found to have a width of 

 9J, a heighth of 6J, and an internal depth of 4J inches. A second 

 (Fig. 15), carved externally to represent a frog had, disregarding 

 the projecting points of the carving, the following dimensions, in 

 the same order as above, — 6J ; 5J ; 3|- inches. One mortar of an 

 oval form, with projecting carved ends, was seen (Fig. 11). It repre- 

 sents a frog or some large-mouthed kind of fish like a cottus, but the 

 design is complicated by the introduction of a human face near what 

 should the hinder end of the animal. The extreme length of this mor- 

 tar is 16^ inches, the width at the middle 8 inches tapering a little 

 from the head to the tail, and the height at the middle, which is 



