EXPLANATION OF PLATE LXV. 



Sixew-Backed Bows of Eskimo. 



Fig. 1. Compound bow, made of reindeer antler and backed witb sinew. The spec- 

 imen is from Cumberland Gulf, the farthest point east at which sinew- 

 backed bows have been found. This is an interesting specimen also because 

 it exhibits the method of makina: the compound bow after the advent of 

 the whalers. The grip piece is spliced and riveted to the limbs. In the 

 old regime these three pieces were fastened together by lashings of sinew 

 cord or braid, very strongly at the points where the upper and lower seizing 

 occur in this bow. Two views given. Murdoch says of this type: "The 

 main part of the reenforcement or backing consists of a continuous piece 

 of stout twine made of sinew, generally a 3-strand braid, but sometimes a 

 twisted cord, and often very long (sometimes 40 or 50 yards in length). 

 One end of this is spliced or knitted into an ej^e, which is slipped round 

 one 'nock' of the bow, usually the upper one. The stiands then pass up 

 and down the back and round the nooks. A comparatively short bow, 

 having along its back some dozen or twenty such plain strands, and tiuished 

 oft' by knotting the end about the ' handle,' appears to have been the origi- 

 nal pattern. The bow from Cumberland Gulf (fig. 1) is such a one, in 

 which the strands have been given two or three turns of twine from the 

 middle. They are kept from untwisting by a 'stop' round the handle, 

 which passes between and around the strands." 

 Cat. No. 34053, TJ. S. N. M. Collected by L. Kunilieii. 



Fig. 2. Southern type of sinew-backed bows of Murdoch. The essential features of 

 these southern bows are — 

 First. The substitution of a columnar for a breaking strain upon the wood secured 

 by winding a great many yards of sinew twine or braid backward and forward 

 along the back of the bow, from nock to nock. 



Second. The addition of strands in the cable inserted by means of half-hitches at 

 various points, laid on as shown in the following jilate. 



Third. Holding the strands together in a cable by a coiled twine running froiu end 

 to end. 



Cat. No. 36032, U. S. N. M., Cape Roraanzoff, collected by E. W. Nelson. Straight 

 bow with the simplest form of southern backing. 



