Plate LXXX.
Fig. 40. Fire-making Set.
Cat. No. 55938, U. S. N. M. Eskimo of Bristol Bay, Alaska. Collected by Charles McKay.
Another set from Bristol Bay is said by its collector, Charles McKay, to be used by both Eskimo and Indians. It is a very valuable outfit because of its completeness (pl. LXXX, [fig. 40]). The hearth is a rounded piece of wood with four large holes opening by slots onto the step. The drill is a thick, tolerably hard piece of close-grained wood like the hearth. The mouth-piece has no regular block for the teeth-grip, but has a crescentic gash on each side instead. It is set with a socket of a rock resembling marble. Nearly all the mouth-pieces south of Norton Sound are in the shape of seals, or other long animals. Cord handles are used attached to a thick thong of buckskin. Fungus is used for tinder and a blaze is started with cones of the larch. These are kept in the box, the lid of which is tied on with a thong.
Kadiak, the lowest limit of the western Eskimo, is as far south as the four part fire-drill extends by specimens in the Museum ([fig. 41]). The hearth is of cedar wood with three central holes with a connecting groove. It is neatly finished. The drill is also of cedar and bears the marks of the use of the thong; the top has also been used in the socket of a rest. The drill approaches in length those used for twirling between the hands by the Indians.
While the Aleutians use flint and steel, or a stone containing quartz and pyrites, struck against another stone, they still make use of the four-part drill at certain times. Hunting parties, says Mr. L. M. Turner, carry the drill to use when their matches run out. It takes two men to work it, one holding the hand rest and the other pulling the thong. The spindle is made of harder wood, so as to wear the light dust which ignites, from the hearth. A moment only is necessary to get fire; this is fed with tinder made of willow catkins and powdered charcoal. Sometimes, in order to get fire, they hold tinder at the mouth of a gun and ignite it by firing off a light charge of loose powder.
Fig. 41. Lower Piece and Spindle of Fire-making Set.
(Cat. No. 72514, U. S. N. M. Eskimo of Kadiak Island, Alaska. Collected by W. J. Fisher.)
Possessed of four methods of getting fire, the Aleutian is superior to more fortunately situated people who depend wholly on matches.