The Material Culture of the Eskimo in West Greenland, 



157 



shaft-hole, and is turned round until the line offers resistance, after 

 which, this is still further tightened by being fastened round a bone 

 peg. When the dart has struck, the point is 

 immediately loosened and the line unwound, 

 whereupon the shaft and bladder offer resis- 

 tance to the seal's attempt to dive. The 

 bladder assists the steering ability of the dart 

 when this is thrown, and imparts to the 

 weapon a rotary movement about its longi- 

 tudinal axis; whence its name nakerutâ "its 

 means for straight steering," 



The bladder-dart is used in South Green- 

 land for small seals only and especially for a 

 kind of "battue" {malerssorneq, 198) by several 

 hunters together of young Phoca groenlandica, 

 and also for Phoca vitulina which latter being 

 extremely shy can only with difficulty be 

 approached so closely as to be harpooned. To 

 attach the weapon to a large seal is considered 

 senseless, as either it will break, or the seal 

 will go оЯ with it. 



Before the manufactured iron darts were 

 accessible bone points were used, sometimes 

 with inserted blades of iron. Of the articles 

 found two types, which must have been 

 common at Disco Bay, may be distinguished. 

 The one type comprises heavy bone points of 

 antler, 30 — 40 cm. long and 15 — 18 mm. thick 

 (see Fig. 19 ; Fig. 27, h, 1 ; and Swenander's 

 Tab. 4). Fig. 19, A from Ujarassugssuk at the 

 Vaigat terminates below in a swollen knob 

 and slightly above are three line holes con- 

 nected by a deep furrow. The upper end is 

 square and has four barbs which, evidently 

 have been too small, for which reason a 

 slanting hole has been bored in one of them, 

 and here a bone tooth, which has since fallen 

 out, has been inserted. It has had an iron 

 blade. The other, B, from Hunde Eiland is 

 longer and more slender, but also more dis- 

 integrated; here a little of the blade is still 

 preserved, it seems to be of telluric iron (from 

 Uivfak?). 



Particularly as regards the barbs there has been a rich variation 

 of forms, of which Swenander's excellent illustrations afford good 



В A 



Fig. 19. Two heavy bone- 

 points for bladder-darts. 



