280 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



i 



'^l 



it antedated the rifle. Such a retrieving harpoon is called nauliga. The 

 .shaft (ipi'ia) is of ash, 4 feet 5 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, taper- 

 ing very slightly to each end. The ice pick (tuu), of walrus ivory, l-i 

 inches long and 1 inch wide, has a round tang fitting into a hole in the 

 butt of the shaft. Close to the shaft a small hole is drilled in one 

 edge of the pick, and through this is passed a bit of seal thong, the 

 ends of which are laid along the shaft and neatl}^ whipped down with 

 sinew braid, with the end wedged into a slit in the wood. The fore- 

 shaft (ukumailuta) is of walrus ivory, 4i inches long 

 and li inches in diameter at the thickest part, and 

 secured to the shaft by a whipping (ni'xma) of seal 

 thong. The loose shaft (igimu) is also of ivorj?- and 2- 

 inches long, and secured by a thong (ipiuta) spliced 

 into a loop through the hole at the butt, as previously 

 described. The end is hitched round the tip of the 

 shaft with a marlin hitch, followed b}^ a clove hitch 

 below the whipping. The ivory finger rest (ti'ka) is 

 fastened on with a lashing of whip cord (white man's) 

 passing round the shaft. The line catch (ki'lerbwin), 

 which was of ivory and shaped like those on the walrus 

 harpoons, has been lost in transportation. The head 

 differs only in size from those intended for the bearded 

 seal, except in having a hexagonal body. It is 3.S 

 inches long and has a blade of iron fastened into a bod}^ 

 of walrus ivory with a single wooden rivet. While 

 there is no detachable leader, the head is attached by 

 a separate piece of the same material to the line 

 (tukaksia), which is 86 feet 10 inches long and made 

 of a single piece of fine seal thong about one-eighth, 

 inch thick. This shorter piece is about 27 inches 

 long, and is passed through the line hole and doubled 

 so that one part is a little the longer. 



It is fastened strongly to the end of a line hj a com- 

 plicated splice made as follows: A slit is cut in the end 

 of the main line, through which are passed both ends of 

 the short line. The longer part is then slit about 2 

 inches from the end, and the shorter part passed through the slit, 

 and a slit cut close to the end of it, through which the longer end is 

 passed. The whole is then drawn taut and the longer end clove 

 hitched round the main line. 



Catalogue No. 129585 in the U. S. National Museum is a barbed 

 harpoon (for throwing stick) from Cape Blossom, and collected by 

 Capt. M. A. Healy, of the U. S. Revenue Marine. The shaft is of 

 light pine wood, tapering back toward the butt end. It is socketed to 

 receive the shank or tang of the foreshaft, which is plug-shaped and 



h 



Fig. 78. 



OLD STYLE TOGGLE 

 HEAD. 



Point Barrow. 

 Collected by P. H. Ray, 

 after Murdoch. Cat. 

 No. 89748, U.S.N.M. 



