Fig. 36.—Fish dish.
[DRINKING VESSELS.]
Fig. 37.—Whalebone cup.
[Whalebone Cup] (I´musyû).—
One of the commonest forms of drinking vessels is a little tub of whalebone of precisely the same shape as the large whalebone dish described above ([p. 88]). Of these there are five specimens in the collection, all from Utkiavwĭñ. No. 89853 [1302] (Fig. 37) will serve as the type. It is 4.6 inches long and made by binding a strip of black whalebone round a spruce bottom, and sewing together the ends, which overlap each other about 1½ inches, with coarse strips of whalebone.
There are two vertical seams three-fourths inch apart. The bottom is held in by fitting its slightly chamfered edge into a shallow croze cut in the whalebone. All these cups are made almost exactly alike, and nearly of the same size, varying only a fraction of an inch in height, and from 4.2 to 5.5 inches in length. The only variation is in the distance the ends overlap and the number of stitches in the seams. Such cups are to be found in nearly every house, and one is generally kept conveniently near the water bucket. Though the pattern is an ancient one, they are still manufactured. No. 56560 [654] was found among the débris of one of the ruined houses at Utkiavwĭñ, and differs from the modern cups only in having the ends sewed together with one seam instead of two, while No. 89851 [1300], though it has been in actual use, was made after our arrival, as the bottom is made of a piece of one of our cigar boxes.