166 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 



piece of reindeer antler which has been reduced in thickness by sawing 

 out a slice for 8 inches from the butt and bringing the two parts together 

 with four stout wooden treenails about li inches apart. This is pref 

 erable to trimming it down to a proper thickness irom the surface, as 

 the latter process would remove the compact tissue of the outside and 

 expose the soft inside tissue. The whipping of seal thong just above 

 the flange of the butt helps to give a better grip and, at the same time, 

 to hold the parts together. As before, there are two large holes for 

 the lashing. Ad/es of this sort are used for all large pieces of wood 

 work, such as timbers for boats, planks, and beams for houses, etc. 

 After roughly dressing these out with the ad/ they are neatly smoothed 

 ott with the crooked knife, or sometimes, of late years, with the plane. 

 The work of &quot;getting out&quot; the large pieces of wood is almost always 

 done where the drift log lies on the beach. When a man wants a new 

 stem or sternpost for his umiak, or a plank to repair his house, he 

 searches along the beach until he finds a suitable piece of driftwood, 



Flo. 129. Hatchet hnfterl ;is an adz. 



which he claims by putting a mark on it, and sometimes hauls up out 

 of the way of the waves. Then, when he has leisure to go at the work, 

 he goes out with his adz and* spends the day getting it into shape and 

 reducing it to a convenient si/e to carry home, either slung on his back 

 or, if too large, on a dog-sled. A man seldom takes the trouble to carry 

 home more of a piece of timber than he actually needs for the purpose 

 in hand. 



The ad/ was in general use long before the introduction of iron. 

 There is in the collection a very interesting series of ancient tools, 

 showing the gradual development of the implement from a rude oblong 

 block of stone worked down to a cutting edge on one end, to the 

 steel ad/.es of the present day. They have, however, not even yet 

 learned to make an eye in the head of the tool in which to insert the 

 haft, but all tools of this class adzes, hammers, picks, and mattocks 

 are lashed, witli one face resting against the expanded end of the haft. 

 Firmness is obtained by putting the lashing on wet and allowing it to 

 shrink tight. Nearly all these ancient ad/es are of jade, a material 

 well adapted for the purpose by its hardness, which, however, renders 



