GRAPHIC ART OF THE ESKIMOS. 911 



tion of death, i. e., a dead whale or killed whale, determined by the 

 presence of the instrument with which death was accomplished. This 

 is rare in Innuit pictography, but frequent in Indian art. 



Plate 68, fig. 3, is a large bag handle from Cape Nome. This is par- 

 ticularly interesting from the fact of the presence of a variety of 

 human forms, some resembling the bird-like forms or wings very much 

 resembling the characters for " Thunderbird," as portrayed by the 

 OJibwa and other Algonkian tribes. The left half of the lower face of 

 the bow represents umiaks with hunters and harpoons. Near the 

 middle of the record is a very gracefully drawn whale tail up in the 

 air, as the animal appears to be diving while tbe hunter is throwing 

 his harpoon into its body. Upon tlie upper half of this same side of 

 the bow, the two sides being divided by parallel median lines, are a 

 number of whale tails, indicating whales that have escaped, while 

 others are shown in the attitude of swimming. Near tlie left is a very 

 conspicuous umiak occupied by four hunters. Over the bow of the 

 boat projects a large harpoon resting upon the harpoon rest. This 

 illustration is reproduced elsewhere with further explanation. The 

 upper or convex side of the bow is also divided into two longitudinal 

 ridges or faces. Upon one of these is the portrayal of umiaks rowing 

 toward the left, one hunter harpooning an animal, while at the extreme 

 left four hunters appear to be carrying an umiak toward the water, as 

 if preparing for departure. The right half of the record appears to 

 represent the other line, as there are several habitations with smoke 

 rising from the smoke holes, votive offerings attached near by, as well 

 as scaffolds. In this instance the latter are evidently for burial pur- 

 poses and not for food. This is made clear from the fact that the 

 votive offerings are placed in close contact with the respective burials. 

 A little farther to the right are three men returning with a sledge and 

 a single dog, two additional persons appearing to lag behind, as if 

 wearied or bent with age. The representation of a human figure car- 

 rying a staff" is a common indication of age or indigence, and occurs 

 very frequently in Egyptian hieroglyphs, as well as in the mnemonic. 

 One of the individuals shown in the Eskimo record stoops forward 

 very much, and this is believed to indicate age. Immediately behind 

 him is the rude outline of a fox, which may have reference to his being 

 a shaman, or he may possibly have captured such an animal. To the 

 right is a figure denoting a whale's fluke, indicating that the hunters 

 are also whalers, because to the right of this fluke is an umiak with 

 two persons sitting in it using the paddle. The hunter in the bow of 

 this boat has his paddle projecting forward and not quite touching the 

 water, the persj^ective being admirably represented, as it does not cut 

 through and destroy the structure of the boat. Upon the other face of 

 this same bow are several umiaks in i)ursuit of a whale and several 

 natives dragging seals, two of these natives having attached to the rear 

 part of their bodies appendages drawn exactly like a dog's tail or a fox's 



