GRAPHIC ART OF THE ESKIMOS. 879 



signify that in this disguise he was enabled to approach walruses and 

 shoot them. This method of disguise was practiced by some of the 

 prairie tribes of Indians west of the Mississippi Kiver. Many shy ani 

 mals may thus be approached to within shooting distance, while the 

 human form would at once alarm them and cause them to escape. 

 Three walruses are drawn upou the record, and as their heads are 

 placed in the direction of the human figure, it is believed that this is 

 intended to denote their capture by the hunter, this practice being 

 very common. On the contrary, had they not been secured, their heads 

 would have been placed in an opposite direction. At the extreme right 

 are six bear skins upon the ground, in an upright position, very much 

 resembling the conventionalized figures of skins shown in plate 22, 

 fig. 3. 



On the opposite side or upper curve of the bow is a very rare char 

 acter; in fact, the only instance observed in the entire collection in the 

 possession of the National Museum in which the pudendum is indicated. 



This character was referred to in conversation with Mr. Murdoch, 

 who questioned the writer with reference to its occurrence in picto- 

 graphs from Point Barrow. At the time of the conversation the 

 engraving had not yet been observed. The creature immediately to 

 the right of this is a walrus which has been harpooned, as the projecting 

 weapon illustrates, and through it is the fiying harpoon line connecting 

 it with the hunter in the bow of a fine large umiak occupied by seven 

 hunters. The next character is an umiak hurrying to the right in 

 pursuit of a whale, the harpoon having been thrown forward and 

 apparently into the animal. The next figure is that of a human being 

 with one hand to his head and the other to his groin, the sharply incised 

 line extending downward from the middle of the abdomen. The sig 

 nification of this is not clear. Further toward the right are the out 

 lines of two kaiaks, the shapes of which are very graceful, while only 

 one shows the presence of a hunter, the other being incomplete. The 

 record is concluded upon this side of the bow by the figures of two 

 walruses. 



Upon one side are a number of walruses and other animals, while 

 near the left is the portrayal of a whale, to which the harpoon line and 

 float seems attached. Some short figures are introduced to fill up the 

 space. On the remaining side we have at the extreme left a seine net, 

 to the right of which are several animals not identifiable with certainty, 

 as the engravings are very crude on this record. A number of wal- 

 ruses 7 a whale, and a man in a kaiak occupy the greater portion of the 

 remaining part of the record, while a single triangular habitation is 

 shown, together with two crudely drawn figures of wolves. 



Plate 24, tig. 1, shows a drill bow from Cape Darby, where it was 

 collected by Mr. E. W. Nelson. It is of ivory, and measures 13 inches 

 in length. It is a hunting record, the story beginning at the right 

 hand. The hunter is shown with gun raised, directed toward a herd of 



