ABORIGINAL AMP:RICAN HARPOONS. 248 



the loose shaft and is excavated below to tit over a tenon in the end of 

 the wooden shaft, which is kept from splitting by a wrapping of sinew 

 twine. 



The shaft, of pine wood, 5 feet 2 inches long and li inches thick, 

 tapers somewhat toward the butt end. Upon it arc the following 

 additions: Buttons for holding the shaft on the kaiak. peg over which 

 the eyelet on the line catches to hold the head on the loose shaft, two 

 pegs for the throwing stick, and ])one feathers. 



The l)uttons for holding the apparatus on the kaiak are two little 

 almond-shaped bits of ivory, attached to the shaft near either end bj^ 

 means of a short rawhide thong. These buttons are tucked under the 

 cross lines on the deck of the kaiak, but on occasion do not offer any 

 ratchet to prevent withdrawal. The throwing stick pegs for the two 

 holes in that apparatus are of bone and extend quite through the shaft 

 near either end. The west Greenland shaft for the seal harpoon is 

 unique in having the pegs on the shaft and not on the throwing stick. 



The butt end of the shaft is squared for the attachment of the two 

 " feathers" carved from whale's bone. The end of the shaft is beveled 

 ofl' and grooved. 



It must be borne in mind that as a rule the North American Indians 

 have three feathers on their arrows, radiating outward; the Eskimo 

 have two, laid flat on the flat shaftment. Now on the west Greenland 

 smaller harpoon, at either side of the butt, is a strip of whale's bone 

 16 inches ^ong, from li inches wide, and one-eighth inch thick, both 

 exactl}^ alike, with long leaf-shaped outline terminating in a flsh-tfJl 

 bifurcation. These two plates are pegged on for 5 to 6 inches, so that 

 their outsides are flush with the shaft, and their butt ends are held 

 apart in place by an ivory peg or cylinder. The area of this device or 

 attachment is very circumscribed. It is not shown b}' Boas, Kumlicn, 

 or Turner. The throwing stick is of light, conifcous wood, very 

 broad in the manual part and ta})ering gracefully toward the working 

 end. The top is slighth' rounded up, the bottom of two surfaces meet- 

 ing in a ridge along the middle. The shaft groove is an inch wide and 

 from one-fourth to one-eighth in-.-h deep, extending the entire length 

 of the piece. It is right-handed, having a deep under-cut notch on the 

 left margin for the thumb, just liack of which on the margin is a pretty 

 bit of bone ])egged on. The hole in the manual part for the peg has 

 in front of it a washer of l^one set in to prevent the peg from wearing 

 the hole larger. Into the working end of the throwing stick is neatly 

 set a T-shaped bit of whale's bone, held in place by pegs quite through 

 both bone and wood. At the outer end of this bone is a large hole 

 slanting forward and into it the rear peg on the shaft flts. When 

 pulled straight ahead the hook holds tirmly, but when the throwing 

 stick begins to turn away from the shaft the hole unhinges from the 

 peg. All this action with least resistance is provided for iu the 

 device. Collected by N. P. Scudder. 



