ABORIGINAL AMERICAN HARPOONS. 287 



foreshaft near the tang. This peculiarity is almost entireh' conlined 

 to the area between Cape Dall and Nunivak. Length of shaft, 46 

 inches; foreshaft, 5 inches; point, 3i inches. 



Specimen No. 33952 in the U. S. National Museum is a barbed 

 harpoon without bridle for throwing stick, from Askeenuk, below 

 Point Dall, collected by E, W. Nelson. The shaft is of light pine 

 wood, nearly uniform thickness throughout, slightly expanded at the 

 butt, and cut into a truncated wedge in front, which fits into a smaller 

 slot in the foreshaft. The foreshaft is of iyory, almost cylindrical, 

 and a little expanded in the front and tapering toward the tip, into 

 which a plug of wood is inserted for the reception of the tang of the 

 point. Into the butt end of the foreshaft is sawed a wedge-shaped 

 slot on the ends of the wings. These formed projections are left for 

 the lashing which joins the two parts together. The lashing is also 

 held in place at the other extremity cf the joint by shoulders on the 

 foreshaft wrapped with sinew braid, which forms a strong joint. 

 Three feathers are pressed into the wood near the butt end and 

 wrapped with sinew braid at their inner extremities, the braid con- 

 tinuing to form the assembling line of the shaft. Here, as in other 

 examples, a dozen or more turns are closely wrapped around the shaft 

 about a foot from the end. The point is of bone. Barbs, three on 

 one side and two on the other. Line hole oblong and cjuadrangular. 

 Tang conical and shouldered. Through the line hole is fastened a 

 narrow sealskin thong 3 feet or more long. This is attached by its 

 other end around the shaft near the joint with the foreshaft by a cloye 

 hitch. AVhen the point is driyen into a seal. by means of a throwing 

 stick, the tang is withdrawn from the foreshaft, which sinks in the 

 water, and the shaft floats with the feathers upward to act as a buoy 

 and also as a drag to slacken the pace of the animal. Similar to this 

 are Nos. 33950, 33949, 33954, and 33955. In all of these the line is 

 fastened to the shaft near the foreshaft. Length of shaft, 44^- inches; 

 foreshaft, 6i inches; point, 3 inches. 



Examples Nos. 34004, 34011, 34016, 34020, 34002, 34008, 34017, 34022, 

 34018, 34001, 34023, 34014, 34003, 34021, 33992, 33991, 33999, 33994, 

 33978, and 33995 in the U. S. National Museum are barbed seal har- 

 poons for throwing sticks, and form a large collection of these objects 

 from yarious places around Norton Bay. They haye foreshafts of 

 whale's bone, C3"lindrical, attached to the shaft by a shank fitted into 

 a socket in the end of the shaft. 



The shank of the foreshaft.is somewhat wedge-shaped in cross sec- 

 tion, the edge of which is run through a slot extending from the out- 

 side to the inside of the end of the shaft, to allow the shrinking of the 

 sinew wrapping on the outside to bind all the parts strongly together. 



Most of these specimens from this area haye two feathers, though in 

 some cases there is onl^^ one. 



