USEFUL TO THE CHIPEWYAN TRIBES OF INDIANS. 405 



white spruce (Abies alba) stand out, from their importance, in bold relief ; 

 but the larch and willow are used also, as well as several kinds of plants, 

 which furnish medicines, dyes, and edible berries that are useful in periods 

 of scarcity. Indeed, in summer a considerable portion of the ordinary 

 food, as well as the luxuries of the natives, is drawn from this source. 



According to the method adopted in my former paper on the zoological 

 products,* I shall pass the various uses of each species briefly in review : — 



The Canoe or Paper Birch (Betula papyracea). — The benefits which this 

 valuable tree confers on the inhabitants of the McKenzie river district, are 

 many and important. Its bark is used in the construction of canoes, and 

 in the manufacture of various utensils for domestic use, such as drinking 

 cups, dishes, and baskets. It also yields spunk or touchwood of the best 

 quality. Of its wood, platters, axe-helves, paddles, snow-shoe-frames, dog- 

 sleds and other articles are made, and as it is a strong and durable material, 

 of close grain, and susceptible of receiving a tolerable polish, the white 

 residents avail themselves of it for the construction of furniture. In 

 spring, the sap forms a pleasant drink, from which a syrup can be manu- 

 factured by boiling, and which may be further transformed, by fermenta- 

 tion, into an agreeably flavoured wine of considerable potency. Beyond 

 the arctic circle, the birch is rare and stunted, though it is found as high as 

 70° N. The largest and finest trees in the district grow on the banks of 

 the Liards, or river of the Mountains. Since the advent of missionaries 

 into these wilds, the natives who are christianised, use the bark for paper 

 on which to engrave their syllabic literature, as well as for letter-writing. 



The White Spruce (Abies alba). — This is pre-eminently the forest tree of 

 McKenzie's river district, and grows a considerable distance within the 

 arctic circle, as high as the 69th parallel. It is used for the thin hoops or 

 verrandis and lining of bark canoes. With its tough roots split to a con- 

 venient thickness, and used under the Cree name of wattape, the pieces of 

 canoe bark are sewed together. Tasteful baskets and dishes are also manu- 

 factured from it, as well as kettles capable of containing water. Before the 

 arrival of traders the Indians used these for cooking their food, which was 

 done by dropping heated stones into the water until it boiled. In districts 

 where the birch is scarce, or for temporary use, a rude canoe is made from, 

 the spruce. For this purpose, a well-grown tree, with thirty feet or so clear 

 of branches, is chosen ; an incision is made down to the wood along one 

 side, and the bark being skilfully raised in one piece, receives the canoe 

 shape by being skewered together, and having a few willows inserted for 

 verrandis to add to its stiffness. It is serviceable for a short period only, 

 heat and cold being alike destructive to this species of craft, by rendering 

 the spruce bark dangerously brittle. Pieces of the bark are used for, 

 covering houses of the white residents, and also by the natives for roofing 

 temporary sheds or cabins. The gum is used for paying the seams of canoes, 

 and is chewed by the female aborigines, to the whiteness of whose teeth the 

 habit contributes in no small degree. 



* See ante, p. 257- 



