The Material Culture of the Eskimo in West Greenland. 173 



vessel, and white men take part in the work of extermination. For- 

 merly sea-otter hunting was the principal support of the natives. 

 They killed the animals partly with clubs on land, when they lay 

 asleep during storms, and could be surprised because the surf deadened 

 the sound of the hunter's steps, partly with bow and arrows which were 

 shot at the animals when, being startled, they resorted to the sea or ap- 

 proached the coast in order to go ashore. The last form of native hunting, 

 before the introduction of the rifle, was carried out with the help of 

 darts flung from open boats, which by organized "driving" surrounded 

 the animal. 



Fig. 26, a — d and Fig. 27, e — / show six different types of original 

 weapons for hunting sea-otter, all copied from Mason's work, which, 

 besides, contains others which form the intermediate forms of these. 



Fig. 26, a is an arrow from Alaska Peninsula. It is a heavy, 

 firmly fixed bone point with an inserted stone (or metal?) blade. The 

 plane of the blade is at right angles to the plane through the two edges 

 of the bone point. These cannot have been meant to cut, but only to 

 distend, because a barb is found in one of them. Here, then, we have 

 the same principle which has already been shown in the whale harpoon 

 from Cumberland Sound (Fig. 13). The size and form of the point 

 shows that the arrow must have been used at close quarters, and the 

 intention was to wound the animal vitally or kill it outright by the shot 

 itself. For this reason the point is not detachable and there are no 

 contrivances to protect the shaft from the animal. Mason has several 

 forms of this type. 



Fig. 26, b — с is from the same place. Here the point is not for 

 the purpose of killing, but is detachable, and is only intended to 

 fix the animal to the shaft, which then offers resistance to its move- 

 ments in the water. In b the point is fastened only into the upper end, 

 in с somewhat lower down, so that the shaft lies athwart in the 

 water. Besides, here, between shaft and point a line is inserted, which 

 unwinds when the point has struck. Hereby the shaft is removed from 

 the wounded animal. Figure 26, с is thus a more perfect type. 



Fig. 26, d from the same place is still more complete. Here 

 the line is bipartite and fastened to the shaft in two places, so that it 

 is less exposed to the danger of breakage from the drag of the animal 

 when diving. The detached figures show the smart winding and jam- 

 ming of the line before the discharge. 



Fig. 27, e is a dart from Unalaska meant to be thrown with a 

 throwing stick, and is therefore much larger and heavier than the pre- 

 vious one, of which, in other respects, it is a repetition as regards prin- 

 ciple and mode of employment. It has even, what is unusual with darts, 

 kept the steering-feather of the arrow. 



Fig. 27, / is a dart from Bristol Bay. It is still larger and heavier, 

 yet meant for the same animal. It is also thrown with a 



