1827. 



PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 399 



ordinary performers in this way among the tribe. One chai'. 

 day a diver was swimming at the distance of thirty yards 

 from the beach, and a native was offered a reward if Out. 

 he woidd shoot it: he fired, but the bird evaded the 

 arrow by diving. The Es([uimaux watched its cominc;; 

 to the surface, and the instant his head appeared he 

 transfixed both eyes with his arrow. He was re- 

 warded for his skilfuhiess, and the skin was preserved 

 as a specimen of ornithology and of Indian archery. 

 Generally speaking, however, I do not think they arc 

 expert marksmen. 



Their bows are shaped differently to those of 

 Igloolik, and are superior to any on the eastern coast 

 of America ; they are, however, made upon the same 

 principle, with sinews and wedges at the back of the 

 w^ood. On the western coast driftwood is so abun- 

 dant that the inhabitants have their choice of several 

 trees, and are never obliged to piece their implements. 

 It requires some care to l)ring a bow to the form 

 which they consider best ; and for this purpose they 

 wrap it in shavings soaked in water, and hold it over 

 a fire ; it is then pegged down upon the earth in the 

 form required. If not attended to when used, the 

 bows are apt to get out of order, and the string to 

 slip out of its place, by which the bow bends the wrong 

 way, and is easily broken. 



In these bows the string is in contact with about a 

 foot of the wood at each end, and when used makes 

 a report which would be fatal to secrecy. The Cali- 

 fornians, accustomed to fight in ambush, are very 

 careful to have that part of the string muffled with 

 fur, but I never saw any precaution of the kind used 

 by the Esquimaux. To protect the wrist from the 

 abrasion which would ensue from frequent firing, the 



