The Material Culture of the Eskimo in West Greenland. 



231 



CU 



pulled out with the teeth. At the top there is a hole, fitted with 



a wooden stopper, through which the pinch of snuff is obtained. It 



is said to be very old, but it was 



used till the owner died recently. 



Compared with South Greenland 



the custom of taking snuff has not 



been so prevalent here. 



Hunde Eiland. 



Figure 65, è is a tube of antler- 

 bone with an attached semitubular 

 projection in which are two holes. 

 The tube is sharp at the edge and 

 carefully fashioned both inside 

 and outside. The projection is 

 broken at the bottom. It has been 

 used as the mouth-piece of a 

 bag for bullets for a muzzle- 

 loader. 



Figure 65, с shows a couple of 

 peculiar splints of whale's bone which 

 were found near Godhavn, at inter- 

 vals of two years. They are flat 

 on the one side and grooved on 

 the other. The pattern of the 

 grooves differs. The work is done 

 with primitive tools (pocket knives?) 

 and has been very laborious. The 

 splints are pieces of bone rings 

 intended for Angekok drums. 

 The hide should have been stretched 

 over the ring in a wet condition 

 and have been lashed in the hollows 

 of the grooves. The splints do 

 not appear to have been used; 

 they probably broke while being 

 bent. 



Figure 65, 

 whale's bone 

 resembles the 



o> 



d is a flat piece of 

 which somewhat 



steering "feather" 

 of a harpoon shaft. It is however 

 a shoe for the fore end of the keel 

 of an umiaq, to be placed outside 

 the skin and partly lashed and 

 partly rivetted to it. 



Fig. 65. a, Snuff box of walrus tusk with 

 wooden Ud and bottom; b, a bone ring 

 with a broken semitubular projection 

 still attached, serving as mouth-piece 

 for a bullet-bag; c, two grooved splints 

 of whale's bone intended for bone rings 

 of Angekok-drums; rf, a shoe of bone 

 to be placed under the fore end of 

 the keel of an umiaq. 



