SLEDS 



207 



lashed to the tops of the stanchions to form rails. Crosspieces con 

 nect the sides of the sled between the stanchions. 



These sleds are very light, weighing only from 15 to 20 pounds. 

 They are used for short hunting or fishing trips, and are hauled usually 

 by the hunter himself. In the spring they are used by hunters to haul 

 their kaiaks on the sea ice to open water, or to the cracks that are 

 opening. When such a break is reached, the hunter places the sled on 

 the top of the kaiak, back of the manhole, and paddles across to the 

 other side, where he disembarks, places the kaiak on the sled, and 

 resumes his journey. In this manner these people make long trips 

 over the sea ice in search of seals and walrus. 



FIG. 61 Kavi.ik hunter with hand sled. 



When a hunter wishes to make a trip to the mountains in winter in 

 search of reindeer and does not care to take dogs with him, he fre 

 quently loads his provisions, bedding, and gun on one of these light 

 sleds and drags it to the camping place. 



The accompanying illustration (figure 61), from a photograph, rep 

 resents a deer hunter leaving St Michael with one of these sleds for 

 a winter hunt in the mountains backward from the coast. 



Both of the styles of sleds described are in common use over nearly 

 the entire coast district visited. 



The runners of the larger sleds are commonly shod with thin, flat 

 strips of bone sawed from the jawbone of a whale of the same 

 width as the runner, and fastened on with wooden pegs; the smaller 



