MURDOCH.] 



BOWS. 



197 



I/ : 



one of these bows wholly through a polar bear, &quot;if there was no bone.&quot; 

 Three bows only were obtained: One from Nuwiik, one from Utkiav- 

 wln (a lad s bow), and one from Sidam. 



The bow from Utkiavwln, No. 89!&amp;gt;04 [786] (Fig. 177), though small, 

 is in some respects nearer the type than the other 

 two, and has been selected for description. The body 

 of the bow is a single piece of the heart of a log of 

 spruce drift wood 30^ inches long, elliptical in section, 

 flattened more on the back than on the belly. It is 

 tapered to the nocks, which are small club-shaped 

 knobs, and narrowed and thickened at the handle. 

 The backing is of round three-ply braid of sinew in 

 one continuous piece. The string is a round four-ply 

 braid with a loop at each end, made by tying a single 

 knot in the standing part, passing the end through 

 this and taking a half hitch with it round the standing 

 part (Fig. 178). The upper loop is a little the larger. 

 No. 89245 [25J (Fig. 179), from Nuwttk, is a full- 

 sized man s bow, which is old and 

 has been long in use. It is of the 

 same material, and is 47-3 inches 

 long. Its greatest breadth is 1 

 FIG. i78.-Loop at end of inches, and it is 8 inch thick at 

 the handle. It is slightly narrowed 

 and thinned off from the broadest part to about 

 inches from each tip, and is then gradually thickened 

 to the nocks and bent up so that the ends make an 

 angle of about 45 with the bow when unstrung. The 

 ends are separate pieces fitted on at the bends. The 

 ends of the body are chamfered off laterally to a wedge 

 which fits into a corresponding notch in the end piece, 

 making a scarf 3^ inches long, which is strengthened 

 by a curved strap of antler, convex above and thick 

 est in the middle, fitting into the bend on the back. 

 The joint is held together wholly by the backing. 



We never saw bows of this pattern made and con 

 sequently did not learn how the bending was accom 

 plished. The method is probably the same as that 

 seen by Capt. Beechey in 1820, at Kotzebue Sound 

 (Voyage, p. 575). The bow was wrapped in wet FIG. i79._Lar ? o i&amp;gt; w from 

 shavings and held over the fire, and then pegged Nuwak. 



down on the ground (probably on one side), into shape. A strip of raw 

 hide (the split skin of the bearded seal, with the grain side out), 1 inch 

 wide, runs along the back from bend to bend under the backing. The 

 chief peculiarity of this bow is the third cable, above the other two, and 

 the great and apparently unnecessary complication of the hitches. 



