NELSON] 



FLOATS LANCES 



145 



shape of a closed human fist; it is placed in a hole in the lower side of 

 the bear head and projects to the rear. 



The front ends of large floats are commonly provided with a cross bar 

 of ivory, which serves as a handle for raising- them, and at the same 

 time is convenient for looping the lines. 



Figure 20, plate LVI , from Unalaklit, is such a handle bar with the 

 head of a seal carved at each end. 



Figure 23, plate LVI, from the Dio- v ^ \ x - 



mede islands, is another such bar carved 

 in the form of a woman. 



Figure 22, plate LVI a, from the lower 

 Knskokwim, has one end cut into the 

 form of a grotesque head, and figure 30 

 of the same plate, from Sledge island, 

 has npon one end the head of a salmon 

 and at the other a seal s hind nippers. 



Figure 31, plate LVI a, from St Law 

 rence island, is a wooden bar, rounded 

 in cross section, with a rounded knob 

 at each end. 



LANCES 



In addition to the spears for killing- 

 whales and walrus, two distinct kinds 

 of lances are used by the Eskimo. The 

 ordinary form is found generally on the 

 Asiatic and American coasts of Bering- 

 straits and thence northward along the 

 Arctic coast. It consists of a slender 

 wooden shaft, from six to seven feet in 

 length, with a rounded point of flint, 

 nephrite, or other hard stone, held in 

 position by rawhide or willow-root lash 

 ings. In recent years some of these 

 lances have been tipped with iron, but 

 the use of stone for this purpose is con 

 nected with the superstition that exists 

 among these people which prohibits the 

 use of iron in cutting up these animals. 



Figure3, plate LV&, from Gape Nome, is a typical example of this 

 style of lance. It has a shaft about T4 feet in length, oval in cross sec 

 tion, with a rounded point of chipped flint set in the slot at the end and 

 bound firmly in position with a sinew lashing. 



Figure 4, plate LV&, from St Michael, is a shorter shafted lance, with 

 the point made from marble ground down to the leaf shape outline 

 18 ETII 10 



.Fm. 41 Cord attacher, obverse and 

 reverse (about g). 



