Fig. 37. Fire-making Set.
Cat. No. 127520, U. S. N. M. Eskimo of Kassianamute (Togiak Region), Alaska. Collected by S. Applegate.
Fig. 38. Fire-making Set (hearth with step and five slots).
(Cat. No. 127819a, U. S. N. M. Koggiung, Bristol Bay, Alaska. Collected by W. J. Fisher.)
Fig. 39. Fire-Making Set (hearth with central holes and end step).
(Cat. No. 127819b, U. S. N. M. Koggiung, Bristol Bay, Alaska. Collected by W. J. Fisher.)
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.