MURDOCH. ] WALRUS HAHPOONS. 225 



round the shaft from the line catch is the finger rest a conical 

 recurved piece of ivory 1 inch high, with a Hat base, resting against the 

 shaft and secured by a lashing of whalebone, which passes through two 

 corresponding holes, one in the rest and one in the shaft. The head and 

 line belonging to this harpoon are intended for hunting the bearded 

 .seal, and will be described below. No. 56772 [536], Fig. 1214ft, from 

 Utkiavwlii,.is fitted with fairly typical walrus gear. The head is of 

 the typical form, (i inches long, with a conoidal body of walrus ivory, 

 ornamented with incised lines colored with red ocher, and a blade of steel 

 secured by a whalebone rivet. The &quot;leader,&quot; which is about la inches 

 long, is made by passing one end of apiece of stout walrus-hide thong 

 about one-quarter inch wide through the line hole and doubling it with 

 the head in the bight, so that one part is about inches the longer. 

 The two parts are stopped together about 2 inches from the head 

 with a bit of sinew braid. The ends are joined and made into a beoket, 

 as follows: The longer end is doubled back for 7 inches and a slit cut 

 through both parts about 2 inches from the end. The shorter end is 

 passed through this slit, and a slit is cut 5 inches from the end of this, 

 through which the loop of the other end is passed and all drawn taut. 

 The whole joint is then tightly seized with sinew braid so as to leave a 

 becket . 5 inches and a free end 4 inches long. This becket is looped into 

 an eye 1 inches long at the end of the main line, made by doubling 

 over 5 inches of the end and stopping the two parts firmly together 

 with sinew braid. The line is of the hide of the bearded seal, about the 

 same diameter as the leader, and 27 feet long. It is in two nearly equal 

 parts, spliced together with double slits, firmly seized with sinew 

 braid. There is a becket about 8 inches long at the other end of the 

 lino for attaching the float, made by doubling over the end and tying a 

 carrick bend, the end of which is stopped back to the standing part 

 with sinew braid. The becket to hook upon the line catch is a bit of 

 sinew braid, fastened to the line 2i feet from the head, as follows: One 

 end being laid against the line it is doubled in a bight and the. end is 

 whipped down to the line by the other end, which makes five turns 

 round them. 



I will now consider the variations of the different parts of these har 

 poons in detail, beginning with the head. Our series is so large, con 

 taining in all forty-eight heads, besides some spare blades, that it 

 probably gives a fair representation of the common variations. The 

 longest of this series is 6 inches long and the shortest 3, but by far the 

 greater number are from 4 to 5 inches long. Their proportions are 

 usually about as in the types figured, but the long head just figured 

 (No. 56772 [534] ) is also unusually slender. Sheet brass is the com 

 monest material for the blade (thirty blades are of this material), though 

 iron or steel is sometimes used, and rarely, at present, slate. There is 

 one slate-bladed head in the scries (Xo. 56620 [100]) figured above, and 

 four blades for such heads. The blade is commonly of the shape of the 

 KTH - 15 



