198 Morten P. Porsild. 



into a small niche in the side-wall of the house or into the post 

 exactly opposite the platform or sleeping bench ; or else it fitted into 

 a piece of hollowed wood, bone or a piece of old skin, which, 

 with a righthanded person, was lashed round the right leg just above 

 the knee {serqoriit, from serqaq a knee). The right hand grips the 

 handle and the knife now works in a manner half cutting and 

 half scraping towards the worker. If the piece which is being 

 manipulated is long enough, it is held with the left hand in such 

 a way that its ends are supported by the left leg and the chest or 

 chin respectively. If the piece is small, a harpoon for instance, the 

 left hand would tire of holding it between the fingers, and it is 

 therefore lashed in two places to a stick of suitable length, and the 

 lashing is moved, little by little, as the work proceeds. When the 

 cutting edge has become blunt, the piece of work is laid aside, 

 and the knife is sharpened by means of the same grip and movement 

 against a whetstone, which is now held in the left hand ; it being 

 understood, of course, that the edge consists of a material which can 

 be whetted: slate or porcelain-jasper. 



I invite the reader himself to try this working position ; a 

 European pocket-knife lashed to a stick can be used, and better still 

 the half of a pair of scissors, the edge of which more resembles the 

 edge of the stone knife or that of the Greenlander's iron knife. The 

 reader will then be able to convince himself that the position for 

 working and the method not only do not cause fatigue but are 

 also effective, and in a high degree condusive to accurate work- 

 manship. ^ 



Nowadays the sanardlit or sånat of the West Greenlanders naturally 

 differ somewhat in appearance. Poor people are satisfied with a blade 

 consisting of a piece of hoop-iron, tapering towards the fore end, and 

 turned slightly upwards at the apex. Those who are better off can 

 afford a steel blade which has originally been intended for something 

 else, for instance, a butcher's knife, the fore end of which is 

 fashioned according to requirement. This blade is lashed to a semi- 

 cylindrical shaft, 40 — 50 cm. in length, so that the sharply ground 

 and bent part protrudes. The hinder part of the shaft may be 

 fashioned in various ways, most frequently it is rounded, so that it 

 does not wear and tear the trousers at the knee. For nowadays 

 men rarely sit indoors without trousers on while working, and knee- 

 protectors (serqorut) are very rarely used, while formerly they were 

 a necessity, because the naked knee would otherwise have been 

 galled. 



^ When a European boot-maker has to trim the edge of a boot-sole of thick 

 and hard leather, he holds the boot on his left knee, and supports it with his 



