AHOKiGiNAL amp:kican hakpoons. 199 



There are two varieties ot" harpoons, based on the shape of the 

 head — the barbed and the toggle; but the former or siniphn- passes 

 insensibh' into the latter. Barbed harpoon heads are attached to the 

 shaft by means of a connecting line tied to the butt or tang of the 

 head, and may be used on animals with tough hides (see tig. 12). The 

 toggle harpoon head is attached to its line or sling by its middle, the 

 head is driven entirely into the animal, and toggling under the skin 

 gives the firmest possible hold (see tig. 1). It will give the best idea 

 of the apparatus to take up the parts of the harpoon in order, and after 

 that to study the question of distribution. 



PARTS OF THK BARBED HARPOON. 



The parts of a complete barbed harpoon are barbed head, foreshaft, 

 shaft, line, feather, and ])ladder (Plates 8, 0, 11, 16, 17, is, and 19). 



Biu'hed head. — The head of a barbed harpoon is a piece of wood, 

 bone, antler, ivory, shell, or metal, with tooth-like projections from 

 its margins pointing backward, so that it may pierce the hides of 

 animals but can not be withdrawn. Its action is to ratchet and retrieve 

 the game. The parts of a barbed head may be referred to as point, 

 body, margins or edges, sides or faces, barbs, line hole or groove, and 

 tang (see figs. 13, 18 and 81). As to position the barbs are unilateral or 

 bilateral. The unilateral may be from one to many. Bilateral barbs 

 are sagittate, alternate, or opposite. The tang is wedge-shaped, 

 conical, or spindle-shaped, and in relation to the connecting line is 

 roughened, notched, bulbous, or pierced. 



Foreshaft.— Th& foreshaft of a barbed harpoor. is a more or less 

 cylindrical or pear-shaped piece of heavy material, bone or ivory, 

 fitted on to the end of the shaft, and having a socket in front to receive 

 the tang of the })arbed head. In the rudest harpoons, such as the 

 Fuegian, nothing of the kind exists. In some examples the foreshaft 

 is elaborately carved in imitation of the heads of aquatic animals. 

 The attachment of the foreshaft to the shaft is by means of a splice, 

 a wedge-shaped tang and kerf, a socket in the shaft fitting a projec- 

 tion on the foreshaft, or a socket in the loose shaft fitting a projection 

 on the shaft. ^ There is no other part of the mechanism which taxed 

 a])original skill more than the joint between shaft and foreshaft. 

 The socket in the front of the foreshaft for th<^ tang of the barbed 

 head has inserted in it a plug of wood having a small cavity into which 

 the tang of the head fits loosely. The loose shaft and the shaft are 

 l)ound fast together with sinew twine or fine rawhide lin(\ the many 

 ingenious knots appearing in the drawings (see fig. 88). 



/Shaft. — The shaft of a barbed harpoon is of wood, generally rigid, 

 but of light weight. In length it varies from a few inches to many 



1 E. W. Nelson, The Eskimo about Bering Strait, 1899, pi. lvii h, figs. 33, 34. 



