932 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1895. 



ened, the other end terminating in a seal head. The four sides of the 

 specimen are decorated, the first, shown in the illustration, bearing six 

 figures composed of the rear halves of whales joined together so as to 

 present flukes symmetrically at either end. On the second side are out 

 lines of seven triangular summer habitations, on the right-hand slope 

 of which are two projecting lines, similar almost to the lines in the pre 

 ceding figure representing summer habitations. On the third side are 

 engraved figures of seven wolves, while upon the fourth side is a single 

 horizontal line with other oblique lines extending therefrom at inter 

 vals of about an inch, similar to the groups of threes in the preceding 

 figure. 



Plate 21, fig. 5, represents a drill bow from Kotzebue Sound, measur 

 ing 17| inches in length. It is made of yellowish and old looking 

 ivory, the dorsum being round while the under surface has two divided 

 faces. The animals represented upon these are wolves, and are evi 

 dently arranged in such manner as to present a pictorial result rather 

 than a hunting record. It is possible that the hunter may have been a 

 wolf hunter and intended in this manner to illustrate his great success, 

 as a great number frequently indicates an indefinite number that is, a 

 larger number gathered during a lifetime than could conveniently be 



FIG. 153. 



CONVENTIONAL BEARSKINS. 



portrayed on so small a surface. A similar idea obtains in gesture 

 language, in which the native will pass his hands upward and outward 

 as if outlining a heap of some soft material, this gesture signifying 

 large or many; an indefinite number signifying a great many, in con 

 tradistinction to a limited number which would be indicated by ges 

 tures of an entirely different form. 



The specimen shown in plate 37, fig. 6, is part of a drill bow which 

 is nearly 25 inches in length. Upon one surface the utensil is deco 

 rated with figures of seventeen reindeer and nine bear skins, rather 

 decorative than as a hunting record, while upon that side visible in the 

 illustration thirty-seven skins of the seal are drawn, the interior of 

 these objects being decorated with short lines extending from the outer 

 line inward toward the middle of the body, while the median line 

 extending through the middle of the hide is similarly etched toward 

 the outer side, leaving the two white spaces as a series of zigzags. 



Plate 59, fig. 1, represents a drill bow from Nubriakh, collected by 

 Mr. E. W. Xelson. The characters represent bearskins, and are placed 

 almost at equal distances from one another across the entire length of 

 the specimen, to represent ornamentation rather than a record of 

 exploits. 



