GRAPHIC ART OF THE ESKIMOS. 



877 



Mr. Murdoch says: 



The figures on the obverse face are colored with red ocher. At the upper end, 

 standing on a cross line, with his head toward the end, is a rudely drawn man holding 

 his right hand up and his left down, with the fingers outspread. At his left stands 

 a boy with both hands down. These figures probably represent the hunter and his 

 son. Just below the cross line is a man raising a spear to strike an animal which is 

 perhaps meant for a reindeer without horns. Three deer, also without horns, stand 

 with their feet on one border with their heads toward the upper end, and on the 

 other border near the end are two bucks with large antlers heading the other way, 

 and behind them a man in a kaiak. between him and the 

 animal which the first man is spearing is an object which 

 may represent the crescent moon. The story may perhaps be 

 freely translated as follows : u When the moon was young, 

 the man and his son killed six reindeer, two of them bucks 

 with large antlers. One they speared on land, the rest they 

 chase I with the kaiak.&quot; 



On the reverse the figures and the border are colored black 

 with soot. In the left-hand lower row is a she bear and her 

 cub heading to the left, followed by a man who is about to 

 shoot an arrow at them. Then come two more bears heading 

 toward the right, and in the right-hand lower corner is a 

 whale with two floats attached to him by a harpoon line. 

 Above this is an umiak with four men in it approaching 

 another whale which has already receiA r ed one harpoon with 

 its two floats. The harpoon which is to be thrust at him 

 may be seen sticking out over the bow of the boat. Then 

 come two whales in a line, one heading to the left and one to 

 the right. In the left-hand upper corner is a figure which 

 may represent a boat bottom up on the staging of four posts. 

 We did not learn the actual history of this tablet, which was 

 brought down for sale with a number of other things. 



Mr. W. Boyd Dawkins figures an arrow straight- 

 ener of walrus ivory (fig*. 100) which is almost an 

 exact reproduction in form of that shown in plate 8, 

 fig. 1. The latter is from the Diomede Islands, and 

 bears the figure of a reindeer only. That shown by 

 Mr. Dawkins bears along one edge a row of reindeer, 

 while at the opposite margin of the same side a 

 series of seven figures, five of which resemble the 

 human form, each with antler and headdress, and 

 outstretched arms, from the sleeves of which are 

 suspended what appears to denote fringe short 

 seiTations. Two figures are placed in profile and in that position more 

 nearly resemble reindeer rampant, though the characters are evidently 

 intended to represent the same idea as that expressed in the five 

 preceding ones. 1 



Another illustration from the same work and author relates to a 

 hunting scene, two natives being represented as in pursuit of two 

 reindeer, one of which has been shot and is lying down. 2 



Fig. 100. 



ARROW STRAIGHTEXER. 



Early Man in Britain. London, 1880, p. 238, tig. 92. 



Iden , p. 239, fig. 93. 



