154 Morten P. Porsild. 



savigpâ, 317) on the line. They are sewn fast with sinew thread through 

 the small holes. They serve for buttoning onto a peg on the harpoon 

 shaft when the harpoon has to be set in order before the throw, g has 

 two holes, in order, here, to permit an adjustment in the event of 

 the line gradually stretching, 



IV. Darts. 



A. The Bird-dart (nugfit, 256). The West Greenland bird-dart 

 as used to this day in South Greenland consists of a light shaft which 

 is provided at the fore end with a long, thin point of iron — in old days 

 it was of bone {sâguâ or sûgâ, 340), with or without barbs. This po.nt 

 is either stuck into the shaft direct, or — especially in earlier days when 

 iron was more valuable — first inserted in a small piece of bone (torrutâ, 

 374) which was then fixed into the wooden shaft and provided with a 

 piece of line which could hold it up to the shaft if this should break. 

 Lower down on the shaft there are three or four curved points of bone 

 {âq, plur. ai, 12) which generally have barbs on that edge which faces 

 the shaft. Their object is to catch a bone or a wing of the bird if the 

 main point itself should not strike. The weapon is thrown only from 

 kayaks, at seafowl, and with the aid of the special throwing stick. 

 Fabricius (II, pp. 2^2 sqq) has an excellent description of the bird-dart 

 with all its details; and an excellent illustration is found in Nansen, 

 amongst others. 



This is the principle of the bird-dart of all Eskimo tribes, and, 

 in the same form, it has been adopted by the coast Chukchi. Evi- 

 dently there is no room for improvement, nor for new constructions in 

 the principle. There will, however, be small deviations as access is had 

 to new material, until the entire implement gives way before the more 

 effective weapon supplied by civilization, as is the case here in the 

 northern part of the West coast, where the bird-dart has everywhere 

 vanished before the shot-gun. There may also be small deviations in 

 the execution of the original details; the lateral branches may be 

 secured with two lashings, or their lower ends may be mortised into 

 the wood, when one lashing is enough; or they may be mortised in 

 addition to being secured with two lashings. Schultz Lorenzen, in 

 a treatise which seeks to establish the relationship of the East Green- 

 landers with the most southern tribes on the west coast, has also 

 brought to light certain features in the construction of their implements ; 

 amongst others that the lateral branches of the bird-dart on the east 

 and south coasts are mortised and have only one lashing, while further 

 up on the west coast they have two, and also, that at the first mentioned 

 place they form a more acute angle with the shaft. It appears to me 

 doubtful, however, that anything whatsoever can be deduced from such 

 a detail. Even Fabricius diffusely describes the mortising of the 



