ABORIGINAL AMERICAN HARPOONS. 



241 



the maker a great deal of trouble. He had to bore two holes slanting 

 toward eaeh other and meeting inside, to unite these by removing the 

 rough surface, and to separately prepare grooves to receive the line. 

 This is the gift of J. H. Clark. " 



Plate 5 in the U. S. National Museum is a complete seal harpoon 

 from west Greenland (Cat. No. 85670). The head is a combination 

 of bar)) and toggle, sagittate in outline, with a slender waist and wide 

 base; a very gracefully-made specimen. The blade is rhoml)oidal. but 

 squared off in the saw cut and riveted with iron. The ol)longline hole 

 passes straight through the waist and 

 has slight line grooves. 



There are three barbs. Those on 

 the side are angular, prominent, and 

 sawed out, so as to present three 

 flat surfaces inside; the terminal barb 

 angular, formed by the two sloping 

 faces of the back and the beveled sur- 

 face of the butt; socket for the end 

 of the foreshaft narrow and clean 

 cut. The butt end has no bend or 

 curve in it, but is formed by a single 

 cut in the same plane. 



The line is drawn through the line 

 hole, bent, and the end fastened down 

 6 inches from the toggle head, and 

 held fast b}^ a seizing of sinew three- 

 ply braid, laid on for an inch in half 

 hitches. 



At a distance of 50 inches from the 

 toggle head is an eyelet of bone, li 

 inches long and half an inch wide, hav- 

 ing rectangular outline and pierced 

 with three holes, through one of 

 which the line runs. Just beyond 

 this eyelet is a wrapping of sinew 

 string acting as a stop. The whole line is over 30 feet long and termi- 

 nates in a toggle of reindeer antler, with a knob at one end and a 

 bifurcation at the other end. This is to hook into a loop in the line of 

 the float, to be now described. 



The hide of a young seal was drawn off' over the neck, care being 

 taken to keep the legs and other parts complete. After ))eing turned 

 right side out, the hide was sweated, depilated, and again turned wrong 

 side out and all openings carefully fastened up air-tight. But into the 

 puckered oriflce of the neck a stout rawhide loop was inserted and made 

 fast and into one forefoot a bone mouthpiece was tirmly lashed. About 



Jig. 25. 

 TOGGLE HEAD. 



West Greenland. 



Collected by J. H. Clark. Cat. No. 19510, U.S.N.M. 



