i 9 4 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



Knives. The Eskimos inhabiting the coast west of Cape 

 Bathurst now obtain sheath or butcher knives from the whalers, 

 or from the Hudson's Bay Company; so that flint and slate 

 are no longer used for knife blades. Specimen No. 10,929 has 

 a light ivory handle, 7.75 inches long; it is attached to the steel 

 blade by steel rivets; the blade is 5 inches long and 1.3 inches 

 wide. This and the crooked knives described below were 

 taken from graves near Herschel Island. 



The crooked knife with the Eskimo, as with the Indian, is an 

 important tool, which he uses with considerable skill in carv- 

 ing and wood-working. One of those collected, No. 10,929, 

 has a bone shaft 13.5 inches long; there is a small piece of bone 

 riveted to the back, apparently to allow the hand a better 

 grasp. The blade is 3 inches long and 8 inches wide; it is 

 curved upwards slightly in its terminal third. Another, No. 

 10,930, has a shorter, broader haft of a single piece; the blade 

 has a uniform curve throughout, which is continuous with the 

 curved end of the haft. The "woman's knife" is made by the 

 natives from saw blades; the pattern, which is that of a minc- 

 ing knife, and the manner of using remain the same as when 

 made of stone; the women use them in cutting cloth, leather, 

 or meat, — in fact for every purpose for which a knife may be 

 employed; the cut is made by pushing. No. u,OiOwas obtained 

 from Richards Island. It is of dark slate, 4.4 inches in greatest 

 length and 2 inches at the back. It is 2.9 inches wide and .25 

 inch thick. The edge is beveled upon both sides, and worn 

 blunt and smooth. It is without a handle. 



Snow-knife. A large sabre-shaped snow-knife, No. 10,964, 

 was obtained from Cape Bathurst. It is of coarse, heavy bone, 

 flat upon one side, slightly and uniformly rounded upon the 

 other, and equally dull upon the edges; a part of the point has 

 been broken away; the handle is transversely notched, and the 

 end enlarged to afford a better grasp; there is a hole at the end 

 for the passage of a thong. 



BOW Drill. The collection contains but one drill, No. 10,943, 

 from Herschel Island. The steel point is 1.4 inches long, .25 

 inch in diameter; the shaft is of birch, 10.7 inches long, tapering 

 to a rounded end a quarter of an inch in diameter; the winged 

 mouthpiece is of spruce, 3.6 inches long by 2 broad and 1. 1 thick. 

 The socket is made of a triangular piece of limestone. 



