388 THOMAS THOMSEN 



they differ from the following specimens, the edges of which 

 are more or less thick; they have been fastened to one side of 

 the shaft, which in this case has had a notch, affording a plane for 

 application to the butt end of the bone piece, and to prevent it from 

 slipping 1 . 



L. 3187, Syttenkilometernsesset (PI. XV, 6); length 25 cm. It is made of 

 the side of a narwhal tusk, so that the butt end, in transverse section, is 

 almost rectangular, being 2 x 1*2 cm. True, it terminates thinly like the 

 above mentioned specimens, but the butt end, which in the preceding spec- 

 imens sloped to a fine edge, consists in this case of a plane about 5 mm. 

 thick for application to the shaft. 



L. 4027, the winter settlement at Rypefjeldet (PL XV, 3). Made of ant- 

 ler. It is circular in transverse section along the greater part of its length 

 its extreme thickness is 1'8 cm.; it tapers towards the tip, where it ends 

 conically. But 8 cm from the butt end it widens abruptly, and becomes 

 rectangular in section; this part is 2'4 'cm. broad at the front, but narrows 

 posteriorly to 1-4 cm. In this part the plane which was applied to the shaft 

 is smooth, while the three other planes are roughened to increase the security 

 of the lashing 2 . 



. The larger pieces of bone are rather markedly curved. It is pos- 

 sible that, as among the Central Eskimo, they have been curved 

 intentionally to facilitate the detachment of the harpoon head 3 ; but 

 at any rate the curvature has doubtless increased in course of time, 

 owing to their lying exposed to the influence of the weather. 



The National Museum already contained two specimens of 

 this kind from Cape Tobin 4 . A third specimen is in the Museum 

 fur Volkerkunde, Berlin 5 . All three are circular in section and rather 

 short, with a bevel at the butt end, in front of which there is a 

 hole, probably for the reception of the fore end of a thong which 

 ran down along a part of the shaft, as is customary at Smith Sound ; 

 between this thong and the shaft the harpoon line is tucked to keep 

 it tight 6 . 



It would be natural in this connection to describe the fragment, of 

 narwhal tusk, illustrated in PI. XVI, 2, (L. 3561, from Renskaeret, house 

 134). It has a bevelled plane, 9 cm. long, at the butt end ; in this case, how- 



1 This mode of attachment to the shaft is seen in an ice-hunting harpoon from 

 Smith Sound, in the National Museum at Copenhagen. 



2 L. 4033, from the same place as the latter, may perhaps also he regarded as 

 a loose shaft of an ice-hunting harpoon. It is made of a narwhal tusk; length 

 14*3 cm.; as, however, it is broken off at the butt end, its use cannot he abso- 

 lutely determined. 



3 BOAS I, p. 471. 



4 THALBITZER I, p. 371, Fig. 9, 



6 Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin, No. IV A 208; it is 11-3 cm. long. 

 6 Cf. KOLDEWEY, p. 603, Fig. 9. 



