ACCOUNT OP THE INDIANS. 31? 



From two points In this bow, equally distant 

 from the board, two strips of leather, worked 

 with porcupine quills, are suspended, at the ends 

 of which, tassels, composed of moose hair, are fix- 

 ed. This bag is commonly ornamented, in differ- 

 ent parts, with porcupine quills. The women who 

 are particular in keeping their children clean, 

 shift the moss which is put into, these bags, several 

 times in a day ; but others do it not more than 

 twice. They often fix conductors so that their 

 male children never wet the moss. The Carrier 

 women will nurse their children, when thus sus- 

 pended at their backs, either by throwing their 

 breasts over their shoulders, or under their arms. 

 Their breasts are larger and longer than those of 

 the other tribes ; but I am unable to assign any 

 cause for this peculiarity. 



The dress of the Indians is simple and con- 

 venient. They w r ear tight leggins, each of which 

 Js composed of a single piece of leather or cloth, 

 %ewed up with a single seam, about an inch (rWk^ 

 the edge, which projects upon the outside. These 

 garments reach from the ancle nearly to the hip. 

 They have a strip of cloth or leather, called assi- 

 an, about a foot wide, and five feet long, which 

 passes between the legs, and over a thong tied 

 round the waist, so that the ends hang down, be- 

 hind and before. The body is covered with a 



