232 



THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 



The foreshaft (ukumailuta) is of walrus 

 ivory, 4 inches long and 1 inches in diam 

 eter at the thickest part, and secured to the 

 shaft by a whipping (ni mxa) of seal thong. 

 The loose shaft (igimu) is also of ivory and 2 

 inches long and secured by a thong (ipiuta) 

 spliced into a loop through the hole at the 

 butt, as previously described. The end is 

 hitched round the tip of the shaft with a 

 marling hitch, followed by a clove hitch be 

 low the whipping. The ivory finger rest 

 (ti ka) is fastened on with a lashing of whip 

 cord (white man s) passing round the shaft. 

 The line catch (ki lerbwlfi), which was of 

 ivory and shaped like those on the walrus 

 harpoons, has been lost in transportation. 

 The head differs only in size from those just 

 described as intended for the bearded seal, 

 i except in having a hexagonal body. It is 

 \ 3-3 inches long and has a blade of iron fas- 

 toned into a body of walrus ivory with a 

 I single wooden rivet. While there is no 

 f detachable leader, the head is attached by 

 1 a separate piece of the same material to the 

 5 line (tukak.sia), which is 86 feet 10 inches 

 S long and made of a single piece of fine seal 

 I thong about one-eighth inch thick. This 

 t shorter piece is about 27 inches long and 

 8 is passed through the line hole and doubled 

 ~ so that one part is a little the longer. It is 

 fastened strongly to the end of the line 

 by a complicated splice made as follows: 

 A slit is cut in the end of the main line 

 through which are passed both ends of 

 the short line. The longer part is then 

 slit about 2 inches from the end and the 

 shorter part passed through the slit, and 

 a slit cut close to the end of it, through 

 which the longer end is passed. The 

 whole is then drawn taut and the longer 

 end clove hitched round the main line. 



No. 89008 [1058] is one of these spears 

 rigged ready for darting. The line is se 

 cured at about the middle of the shaft 

 with a couple of marling hitches. This 

 specimen, except the head, is new and was 

 rather carelessly made for the market. ^ It 

 has neither line catch nor finger rest. The 



