164 Morten P. Porsild. 



The large kayak-lance, {anguvigaq, 37) is well known. It is fully 

 described in Fabricius and well illustrated in Nansen. It consists of 

 a rather heavy shaft which is capped with a piece of bone cut trans- 

 versely with a smooth level surface (qârga, 135) in the centre of 

 which is a knob.^ Then comes a somewhat long rod of strong bone 

 (ipuligâ, 108) slightly concave below, often formed by the riveting to- 

 gether of two pieces of antler. At its upper end it carries the fast 

 riveted blade {ulua, 392) and below it has a socket for the reception 

 of the knob; it is fixed to the shaft by two straps {tavssutai, 358) of rawhide 

 line, so that it may be bent to one side or the other without breaking: 

 a construction quite similar to that which connects the shaft of the 

 kayak-harpoon with its loose foreshaft, igimaq. The lance may be so 

 made that it can be thrown by hand, in which case some bone hand- 

 rests {tikâgutâ, 364) are inserted, or it may have pegs to enable it to fit 

 onto the throwing stick of the harpoon shaft. There may be some slight 

 variation in the length of the straps and of the shaft. If it has to be 

 thrown with a throwing stick, that is to say from a long distance at 

 large and dangerous game, the shaft is longer and more slender than 

 when only the shooting of small seals is anticipated, when it is safe to 

 approach the animal and throw by hand. 



In other respects there is no room for variations. The object and 

 the use are identical and the implement is finished. It is also used in 

 essentially the same form on the coasts of both East and West Green- 

 land, and by those of the Central Eskimo among whom the culture of 

 the kayak is on about the same level as in Greenland. Owing to lack of 

 literature I am unable to give any information as regards the appearance 

 of the Alaskan lance. 



Moreover, a short, slender lance {kaput, from kapim, 169) which 

 consisted only of a long knife-blade immovably fixed onto a wooden 

 shaft was always used formerly and is still used at times. It is employed 

 to give the animal its death-stroke when one comes so close to the animal 

 that the long throwing lance becomes unmanageable, as is implied by its 

 Greenland name "something to stab with." Since the introduction 

 of the rifle it has in some measure disappeared, or, to be more correct, 

 has become shorter and been converted into a long-handled knife which 

 is stuck into a sheath on the deck of the kayak. If the bullet does not 

 entirely finish off the animal, the small lance is finally used, and particularly 

 to give the cuts necessary for the attachment of the various towing tackle, 

 for which reason it is also called sanarfit, 312, "that to fashion it with." 



Yet another term for a lance may be found, qalugiaq, 128. From 

 Kleinschmidt's manner of specifying it in his dictionary it looks as if 

 he considers the word as an original one, and not as derived from 



' Sometimes, the qàteq has a socket in the centre and the ipuligaq ends in 

 a tenon fitting into it. 



