INGENUITY OF THE PEOPLE. [i820. 
carved wooden spoon. One of us having express- 
ed a wish to possess a spoon very neatly carved, 
the circumstance was communicated to the chief, 
whose wife instantly replied, that she also had a 
wish to possess some of our beads. Having uo 
beads to produce, the spoons were quietly laid 
aside. They had different kinds of flowers en- 
graven on them, hardly inferior in workmanship 
to that of an English artist. Though I had 
examined at least forty or fifty of those spoons, 
I did not recollect having seen two of the same 
pattern, a proof that they are not destitute of 
invention. In the public place, opposite to the 
chief's house, we found eight or ten people busy 
at work upon various kinds of skins for cloaks ; 
some cleaning and making them thin by scraping 
them with a small iron adze, the edge of which 
they frequently sharpened or touched up with a 
steel,* smaller than those used in England at 
table for sharpening knives ; others were soften- 
ing skins with water, and one man was grinding 
tobacco. They are reported to be an indus- 
trious, kind and . cheerful people, and their senior 
chief has the character of being a wise and 
prudent man. They are connected with Ma- 
teebe, who is said to pay deference to this chief's 
advice. 
* They procure their steel from the Marootzee country. 
