ld, under the influence of polite society, become the all-too-easy
task of esthetically minded schoolgirls. In the hands of those warrior
artists, and with the tools at their command, mostly fashioned from
sharpened fish-bones and such like rude materials, it was an art which
required the equivalent of many fine artistic qualities, as such are
understood by more cultivated nations. The marvelous dexterity and
determined purpose evinced in the laborious decoration of canoe paddles,
ax-handles, and other weapons, is, under such technical disabilities as
to tools, really very impressive. This being so, there is no inherent
reason why such a rudimentary form of the art as "chip" carving should
not be practised in a way consistent with its true nature and
limitations. As its elemental distinctions are so few, and its methods
so simple, it follows that in recognizing such limitations, we shall
make the most of our design. Instead, then, of trusting to a forced
variety, let us seek for its strong point in an opposite direction, and
by the monotonous repetition of basket-like patterns, win the
not-to-be-despised praise which is due to patience and perseverance. In
this way only can such a restricted form of artistic expression become
in the least degree interesting. The designs usually associated with the
"civilized" practise of this work are, generally speaking, of the kind
known as "geometric," that is to say, composed of circles and straight
lines intersecting each other in complicated pattern. Now the "variety"
obtained in this manner, as contrasted with the dignified monotony of
the savage's method, is the note which marks a weak desire to attain
great results with little effort. The "variety," as such, is wholly
mechanical, the technical difficulties, with modern tools at command,
are felt at a glance to be very trifling; therefore such designs are
quite unsuitable to the kind of work, if human sympathies are to be
excited in a reasonable way.

An important fact in connection with this kind of design is that most of
these geometric patterns are, apart from their uncomfortable "variety,"
based on too large a scale as to detail. All the laborious carving on
paddles and clubs, such as may be seen in our museums, is founded upon
a scale of detail in which the holes vary in size from 1/16 to something
under 1/4 in. their longest way, only in special places, such as
borders, etc., attaining a larger size. Such variety as the art