CHESUNCOOK. 
143 
were getting to be pretty numerous again, where we went, 
but their skins brought so little now that it was not prof¬ 
itable to hunt them. 
I had put the ears of our moose, which were ten inches 
long, to dry along with the moose-meat over the fire, 
wishing to preserve them; but Sabattis told me that I 
must skin and cure them, else the hair would all come 
off. He observed, that they made tobacco-pouches of the 
skins of their ears, putting the two together inside to in¬ 
side. I asked him how he got fire; and he produced a 
little cylindrical box of friction-matches. He also had 
flints and steel, and some punk, which was not dry; I 
think it was from the yellow birch. “ But suppose you 
upset, and all these and your powder get wet.” “ Then,” 
said he, “ we wait till we get to where there is some fire.” 
I produced from my pocket a little vial, containing 
matches, stoppled water-tight, and told him, that, though 
we were upset, we should still have some dry matches; 
at which he stared without saying a word. 
We lay awake thus a long while talking, and they gave 
us the meaning of many Indian names of lakes and 
streams in the vicinity, — especially Tahmunt. I asked 
the Indian name of Moosehead Lake. Joe answered, 
Sebamook; Tahmunt pronounced it Sebemook . When 
I asked what it meant, they answered, Moosehead Lake. 
At length, getting my meaning, they alternately repeated 
the word over to themselves, as a philologist might, — 
a Sebamook, — Sebamook , — now and then comparing notes 
in Indian; for there was a slight difference in their di¬ 
alects ; and finally Tahmunt said, “ Ugh ! I know,” —• 
and he rose up partly on the moose-hide, — “ like as here 
is a place, and there is a place,” pointing to different 
parts of the hide, “ and you take water from there and 
