THE HARPOON 



agile withal ; and I can imagine the creature, stung 

 by the sharp stab, diving with a jerk so sudden that 

 the spear broke short. This meant losing both seal 

 and spear; and seals and spears were precious. I 

 imagine one of these old hunters having a flash of 

 genius, the sort of flash that sometimes comes to 

 these native peoples, and saying to himself, " If my 

 spear must break, I will make a joint so that it may 

 break without being spoilt." Or perhaps it came 

 more slowly, and so some one who could not get a 

 new head for his spear bored holes in the broken 

 pieces with his flint boring-tool, and bound the 

 broken ends together with seal-hide thongs ; and, lo 

 and behold, next time he used his spear it broke 

 again at the mended place, and he bound it up again 

 wondering. Whether with a sudden inspiration, or 

 with the slower method of a gradual evolution from 

 that mended spear, no man can say ; but I imagine 

 a time dawning when all the spears were jointed at 

 the head, and the hunters flung them with an added 

 eagerness because they knew that the problem of 

 smashed harpoons was solved. The evolution of the 

 harpoon went on ; the spear was a deadly thing ; it 

 killed, but it did not hold, and so some thoughtful 

 mind invented a barb. 



The tusk which forms the head of the spear 

 cannot well be carved into a barbed shape, because 

 it is too slender. So came the next thing : the barb 

 must be separate, bound on with a thong ; and then 

 the hunter made the discovery of his life. When 

 the head broke at its joint the thong, of course, fell 

 slack and the barb fell off. Now the harpoon was 

 perfect. No need to risk the loss of the precious 

 tusk ; the barb would do the work. Let the line that 



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