HUKUUCU.J 



CLUBS. 



WEAPONS. 



11)1 



As would naturally be exported from what lias boon said of the 

 peaceful character of these people, offensive weapons, specially intended 

 for use against men, are exceedingly rare. In case 

 of quarrels between individuals or parties the bows, 

 spears, and knives intended for hunting or general 

 use would be turned against their enemies. Even 

 their rifles, nowadays, are kept much more for hunt 

 ing than as weapons of offense, and the revolvers of 

 various patterns which many of them have obtained 

 from the ships are chiefly carried when traveling back 

 and forth between the two villages as a protection 

 against a possible bear. We, however, obtained a 

 few weapons which were especially designed for tak 

 ing human life. One of these was a little club 

 (tl glun) (Xo. 89492 [1310], Fig. 172, from Utkiavwffi) 

 made of the butt end of an old pickax head of whale s 

 bone, with the point cut down to a blunt end. It is 

 64 inches long and meant to be clenched in the 

 hand like a dagger, and used for striking blows, prob 

 ably at the temple. The transverse grooves for haft- 

 ing give a good hold for the fingers. This was the 

 only weapon of the kind seen. 

 We collected a single specimen of a kind of slung 



shot, No. 89472 [905J (Fig. 173), made 

 of a roughly ovoid lump of heavy bone, 

 the symphysis of the lower jaw of a 

 walrus, , 5 inches long. At the smaller 

 end two large holes are bored in 

 obliquely so as to meet under the sur 

 face and form a channel through which 

 is passed a slip of white seal skin about 

 15 inches long, the ends of which 

 fasten together with two slits, so as to 

 make a loop. This may be compared 

 with the stone balls used by the ancient 

 Aleuts for striking a man on the temple. 

 The commonest weapon of offense 

 was a broad dagger made of a bone of 

 the polar bear. This was said to be 

 especially meant for killing a &quot;bad 

 man,&quot; possibly for certain specified 

 offenses or perhaps in cases of insanity. 

 Fio.i73.-siun g shot made of walrus jaw. insane persons were sometimes killed 

 in Greenland, and the act was considered &quot;neither decidedly admissi- 



Fio. 172. Little hand- 

 club. 



