AMONG THE ESQUIMAUX. 95 



cut, they placed the splinter to be worked over it, and by 

 pressing gently along the margin vertically, first on one side, 

 then the other, as one would set a saw, they splintered off 

 alternate fragments, until the object, thus properly outlined, 

 presented the spear or arrow-head form, with two cutting 

 serrated sides." A very similar account is also given by 

 Lieutenant Beckwith of the method used by the North Ameri- 

 can Indians;* among whom certain men devoted themselves 

 specially to the manufacture of arrow-heads.-)- 



Next to flint flakes, the axes, wedges, or celts, are, perhaps, 

 of most importance. The largest and finest specimens are 

 found in Denmark ; one in my possession, of beautiful white 

 flint, is 13in. long, IJin. thick, and 3|in. in breadth. The 

 Seeland axes have very often, indeed generally, perpendicular 

 sides ; in Jutland a large proportion have sloping sides ; this 

 is also usually the case in other parts of North-western 

 Europe. In Switzerland, however, the axes, which are much 

 smaller than those from Denmark, have perpendicular sides 

 (fig. 164). The common Danish axe or wedge is figured in 

 pi. 1, fig. 1. Figs. 97 and 98 represent forms which, though 

 rare in Seeland, are common in other parts of Europe. Those 

 found in Denmark are sometimes polished, but almost, if not 

 quite as often, left rough. On the contrary, in other parts 

 of North-western Europe, the axes are usually ground to a 

 more or less smooth surface. That some were held in the 

 hand is evident, but that others were fixed in wooden handles 

 is equally clear, in many specimens, from the presence of 

 peculiar polished spaces, which have been produced by the 

 friction of the wood. In almost all cases, the wooden handle 

 has long perished, but there are one or two instances on 

 record in which it has been preserved. Fig. 99 represents 



* Eeport of the Explorations and t Bancroft. Native Races of the 

 Surveys of the Pacific Railroad, Pacific States, vol. i. p. 342. 

 1855, vol. ii. p. 43. 



