154 



THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 



[1054] has the back more curved than the edge, the haft of antler and 

 the lashing of whalebone. All three are of very rude, workmanship. 

 No. 89587 [1587] is a small knife with a truncated point and the tang 

 imbedded without lashing in the end of a roughly made haft of bone. 



Most of the blades are those of knives similar to the type, more 

 smoothly finished, but No. 5&amp;lt;!711i [- - (!] (Fig. 1()7) is noticeable for the 



extreme &quot;belly&quot; of the edge and the 

 smoothness witli which the faces are 

 beveled from back to edge. Such 

 knives approach the woman s round 

 knife (uln, ulu ra). No. 8JM501 [77(5] 

 (Fig. 107/&amp;gt;) is almost double-edged, 

 the back being rounded oft . Fig. 

 108, No. 8!&amp;gt;31 [1081], is a very re 

 markable form of slate knife, of 

 which this was the only specimen 

 seen. In shape it somewhat resem 

 bles a hatchet, having a broad tri 

 angular blade with a strongly curved cutting edge, along the back of which 

 is fitted a stout haft of bone llij inches long. The blade is of soft, dark 

 purple slate, ground smooth, and resembles the modern knives in having 

 the sharp cutting edge beveled almost wholly on one face. The haft is 

 the foreshal t of an old whale harpoon, and is made of whale s bone. 

 The back of the blade is fitted into a deep narrow saw cut, and held on 

 by three very neat lashings of narrow strips of whalebone, each of which 

 passes through a hole drilled through the blade close to the haft and 

 through a pair of vertical holes in the haft on each side of the blade. 

 These holes converge towards the back of the haft and are joined by 

 a dee]&amp;gt; channel, so that the lashing is countersunk below the surface of 



Fl(i. 107. lUaiU s ul knive.s. 



Klu. 108. Peculiar sltitu knife. 



the haft. This implement was brought down from Xuwftk and offered 

 for sale as a knife anciently used for cutting oft the blubber of a whale. 

 The purchaser got the impression that it was formerly attached to a 

 long pole and used like a whale spade. On more careful examination 

 after our return it was discovered that the haft was really part of an old 

 harpoon and that the lashings and holes to receive them were evidently 

 newer than the haft. 



