270 SAVAGE WEAPONS AT THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 



It has an iron snow-rest at the end of the wooden stock; the shaft is of 

 iron and has a walrus-ivory point, which conies free of 

 the shaft when the whale is struck. The shaft is 

 dragged by the whale, and a float may be secured to 

 the end of the thong. The thongs for the Eskimo har- 

 poons are made from the skins of a 



large species of seal. Incisions six 



inches apart are made completely 



around the body and the rings of hide 



removed like so many hoops. These 



are then cut spirally into thongs of 



a length equal to the circumference 



of the body at the part multiplied by 



the number of times the width of the 



thongs goes into 6 inches. Fig. 101 



is another whaling-lance of the Green- 

 land Eskimo. It has a long bone rod 



for the attachment of the mova- 

 ble head which comes entirely free 



of the shaft, but is held by the thong. 



The shaft has a snow-rest at the 



butt. 



The Makah Indians of the North- 

 west Coast use a lance and seal-skin 



buoy in capturing the great bow-head 



whales of the Pacific. Fig. 105 shows 



the buoy, rope, and lance-head. The 



head is placed on the end of a long 



forked pole and comes oil the shaft 



after the whale is struck. The buoy 



is made of a seal-skin stripped off en- 

 tire, sown up at the ends, 

 and inflated. The lance- 

 head is of shell with wal- 

 rus-ivory barbs and point 

 secured with sinews and 

 pitch. The rope is of 

 spruce root roasted in the. 

 ashes, pounded, frayed, 

 and twisted. Fig. 106 

 shows the seal and fish- 

 spear of the Eskimo of Ko- 

 diak, Alaska. It has a 

 long slender ornamented 

 shaft and movable barbed p IG . i 4 

 point. The shaft has a 

 bladder float and an ivory knob to limit the penetration of the spear 



Fir,. 103.— Wlialing-lance, Greenland. 



WJinling-lance 

 of Greenland Eskimo. 



