154 



THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT 



[ETH. ANN. 18 



the Unalit is calculated as three times the distance from the point of 

 the maker's elbow to the tip of the outstretched forefinger, with the 

 added width of the left thumb for each of the first two cubits and the 

 width of the left hand added to the last. Seal hunters are not so care- 

 ful about the precise length of their throwing sticks as the white whale 

 hunters, who are extremely exact in their measurements. 



Figure 43 (6) represents a throwing stick, from Sledge island, with the 

 tapering jioint deeply grooved and provided with an ivory pin against 

 which the slightly excavated tip of the spear is intended to rest. The 

 handle is rounded near the end and notched on the sides to receive the 

 thumb and the little finger. Small, rudely made depressions in the 

 upper surface serve for the ends of the second and third fingers, and a 



Fig. 43— Throwing sticks (JK 



hole running obliquely through is intended for the insertion of the 

 forefinger. 



Figure 43 (1) shows a throwing stick, from Sabotnisky, with a peg of 

 ivory in the groove on its upper surface to receive the butt of the spear. 

 The handle has a hole on the underside to receive the forefinger, a 

 wooden pin on the inside as a rest for the second finger, with a deep 

 notch opposite for the thumb, and the upper surface of the slightly 

 expanded butt has a flat depression to receive the ends of the last two 

 fingers. 



Figure 43 (7), also from Sabotnisky, is similar in form to the last, with 

 a wooden peg at the end of the groove to receive the butt of the si>ear. 

 Another wooden pin on the inside of the handle serves as a rest for the 

 forefinger, while an excavation on the upper surface for the tips of the 

 last three fingers is oval in form, with incisions representing a crane 

 with long bill and legs, which is a totemic sign. 



