The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

by J. G. Wood

It is shaped exactly like the cross section of a boat, straight above, and rounded below. It measures five feet three inches in width, and three feet six inches in depth in the centre. As is usual with such robes, the upper edge is adorned with a strip of marten fur a quarter of an inch wide, wound spirally round the selvage so as to form quite a thick rope of fur. These capes are the work of the women, who have the manufacture of all the clothing. Fur bags are made by the simple process of skinning the marten, the body being then extricated through a cut made across the abdomen just below the tail. As the skin comes off it is reversed, and when dry and properly dressed it is turned with the fur outward, and the bag is complete, the tail serving as a handle. One of these bags in my collection was presented to me by Lieut. Pusey.

The woof thread is also made of the white pine bark, and the needle is nothing more than a sharpened twig. The same useful materials are also employed for the curious hats which the natives wear in their canoes. These hats are made on the principle of the sailors’ “sou’-westers,” and are fashioned so as to shoot rain off the shoulders. The outside of the hat is made of cedar bark, and the inside of white pine bark.

Depending largely upon animal food for their nourishment, the Aht tribes are expert hunters, and make very ingenious weapons, some of which are shown in the [illustrations] on page 1357, drawn from my own specimens.

The bow and arrows used by these people are worthy of a brief description. The bow is an admirable specimen of savage art, and must be the result of long experience. It is four feet three inches in length, and made of one piece of wood. In general shape it resembles the bow of the Andamans, though it is not of such gigantic dimensions. In the middle the wood is rounded, so as to form a handle which is nearly four inches in circumference. From the handle to the tips, the wood is gradually flattened and widened for about fourteen inches, where it is just two inches wide. From this point it gradually lessens again to the tip, which is rounded and thickened, so as to receive the notch for the string.

Were no addition made to the bow it would still be a very powerful weapon, but the maker has not been satisfied with the simple wood, and has strengthened it with a wonderfully complex arrangement of strings made of twisted sinews. In my specimen there are rather more than fifty of these strings, which are laid on the bow and interwoven with each other in a manner so strong and neat, that the most skilful sailor might be envious of such a piece of handiwork. Each of these strings is double, the two strands being about as large as thin whipcord, and when seen against the light they are quite translucent.

They are put on in the following manner. Two deep notches, parallel to the line of the bow, are made at each lip, these notches serving two purposes: first, the reception of the bow-strings, and next the support of the strengthening strings. Eight of the strings, measuring about eleven feet in length, have been doubled, the loop passed over the tip of the bow, and the strings led along the back over the corresponding notch at the other tip, and brought back to the middle. These strings lie parallel to each other, and form a flat belt from one end of the bow to the other. About an inch below the tip, three other sets of strings are fastened in a somewhat similar manner, so that four distinct layers of strings run throughout the length of the weapon.

ARROWS.

Even these have not sufficed the maker, who has added six more layers starting from the widest and flattest part of the bow, so that nearly three feet of the centre of the weapon are strengthened by no less than twelve layers of sinew strings. By referring to the [illustration], the reader will perceive the extreme ingenuity with which the strings are laid on the bow, so that whether the weapon be bent or unstrung, they all keep their places. So firmly are they lashed to the bow, that even when it is unstrung they are all as tight as harp strings.

The string of the bow is made of the same material as those which strengthen the back, and in consequence of the very great strength of the material, it is much thinner than the string of an ordinary archer’s bow. It is made of two strands, each strand being about as large as the back strings.