THE BOW AND ARROW USED IN HUNTING. 



479 



XII.] 



soon go oiit of use. Some of the natives, however, use 

 the bow with great accuracy of aim. The bows which I 

 procured commonly consisted of a badly worked, slightly 

 bent, elastic piece of wood, with the ends drawn together by 

 a skin thong. Only some old bows had a finer form. They 

 were larger, and made with care ; for instance, they were 

 covered with bii-ch-bark, and strengthened by an artistic 

 plaiting of sinews on the outer side. The arrows are of many 



CHtJKCH ARROWS. 



(One-ninth of the natural size.) a. An arrowhead (one-half the natural size). 



kinds, partly with bone or wooden, and partly with iron, points. 

 Feathers are generally wanting. The shaft is a clumsily worked 

 piece of wood. Crossbows are occasionally used. We have 

 even seen bows for playthings, with carefully made, iron-pointed 

 arrows. At the encampments near the winter station we found 

 a couple of percussion-lock guns, with caps, powder and lead. 

 They were evidently little used, and my attempt to induce the 

 Chukches to undertake long journeys by promises of a gun 

 with the necessary supply of powder and lead completely 

 failed. When the Chukch, who carried our letters to Nischni 



