cleanly appendage; his example was followed by the rest of his band, and will, it is to be hoped, spread through the nation. The mittens, which the men always carry with them, are also adorned with shells, and some of these expensive appendages are even attached to their guns. The women wear fewer shells and beads, both of which have a high value in the nation, especially the shells.* In winter, shirts of hare-skin are worn, and the deer-skin pantaloons have the fur next the skin. On their journeys, travellers carry with them their dress clothes, which they put on every evening after encamping, and when they come to the trading posts. None of the neighbouring nations pay so much attention to personal cleanliness and appearance. The arms of the men are a bow and arrow, a knife, a dagger, and a spear, with a quiver hanging on the left side, and suspended by an embellished belt, which passes over the right shoulder. Fancy handles and fluted blades are more valued than the good temper of a knife; and this people complain of the trouble of sharpening a hard steel weapon. Not so the Central Eskimos, who try one knife The shells, being several species of Dentalium and Arenicola, are collected in the Archipelago lying between the Oregon and Cape Fairweather, and pass by trade from tribe to tribe. The large-ribbed Dentalium is most prized. against another, and will purchase a well tempered blade at a high price. Guns have been lately introduced among the Kutchin, and are in great demand. All the men carry powder and ball, whether they own a gun or not, and for it obtain a share of the game killed by the possessors of fire-arms. The same custom exists among the Dog-ribs. The husbands are very jealous of their wives, but in general treat them kindly, contrasting in these respects with their neighbours. The Chepewyans treat their wives indifferently, and are jealous: the Eskimos treat them well, and are not jealous. The principal men of the Kutchin possess two or three wives each, and Mr. Murray knew one old leader who had five. Poor men, whose abilities as hunters are small, and who have been unable to accumulate beads, remain bachelors*; but a good wrestler, even though poor, can always obtain a wife. In winter the women do all the drudgery, such as collecting the fire wood, assisting the dogs in hauling the sledge, bringing in snow to melt for water, and in fact perform all the domestic duties except cooking, which is the man's office; and the wives do not eat till the husband is satisfied. In summer the women labour little, except in drying meat or fish for its pre Scilicet uxorem cum dote, fidemque, et amicos, servation. The men alone paddle, while the women sit as passengers; and husbands will even carry their wives to the shore in their arms, that they may not wet their feet. The Eskimo women row their own umiaks, and the Chepewyan women assist the men in paddling their canoes. On the whole, the social condition of the Kutchin women is far superior to that of the Chepewyan women, but scarcely equal to that of the Eskimo dames. The Kutchin women do not carry their infants in their hoods or boots after the Eskimo fashion, nor do they stuff them into a bag with moss, as the Chepewyans and Crees do, but they place them in a seat of birch bark, with back and sides like those of an arm chair, and a pommel in front, resembling the peak of a Spanish saddle. This hangs at the woman's back, suspended by a strap which passes over her shoulders, and the infant is seated in it, with its back to hers, and its legs, well cased in warm boots, hanging down on each side of the pommel. The child's feet are bandaged to prevent their growing, small feet being thought handsome; and the consequence is, that short unshapely feet are characteristic of the people. A practice so closely resembling the Chinese one, though not confined, as with them, to females, may interest ethnologists. The Kutchin live more comfortably than the |