sirHDocH.] ARROWS. 201 



,4,vvwr.v.— Witli these bows were used arrows of various patterns 

 ada]iteil for diliereiit kinds of name. Tiierearein llie collection lifly-oiie 

 arrows, Avliich are all about the same len.utli, 'St to.".(i indies. In describ- 

 ing these arrows I shall em]doy tin- terms use<l in modern arclu'iy' for 

 the parts of the arrow. The f;reatest variation is in the shape and size 

 of the pile. The stele is almost always a, straii^ht c.s liiidrical rod. 

 almost invarialdy d^ inch in diameter, ami ran.uini;- in lenyth fiom I'd 

 to 1-*.S inches. Twenty-live inches is the commonest length, and the 

 short steles, when not intended for a hoy's bow, arc gem'rali\- fitted 

 with an unusually long ])ile. From the l)e,giniiing of the feat iiering the 

 stele is gradually flattened above and below to the nock, wiiich is a 

 siuii)le notch almost always 0-2 inch wide and of the same depth. The 

 stele is sometimes slightly widened .just in front of the nock to give a 

 better hold for the fingers. The feathering is (i or 7 inches long, con- 

 sisting of two, or less often, three feathers. (The set of sixteen arrows 

 from Sidaru, two from Nuwuk, and one fi'om Utkiavwifi, have three 

 feathers. The rest of the fitty-one have two.) The shaft of the feather 



ol till h ithdsaH liMtmdto ~>!r^rr 



till ><t.h Wlthwhippm^sol tllK H IM-liitl 1.1 1 1, irr « 



sun w tilt -m ill < nd ot tin tt itln i xvlinli oi < ouise, ( omcs at th(> inxk 



b( iiu oliMi \\(<U(d into I sht m tin w l(\\itha sptud tool to be 



descriDed below), or else douDied bade over a few tmiis ot tiie wiup- 

 ping and lashed down witii the rest. The small end of the feather is 

 almost always twisted about ime turn, evidentl.y to make the arrow 

 revolve in flight, likc^ a rifle ball. Generally, if not universally, tlie 

 feathering was made of the feathers of some bird of prey, falcon, eagle, 

 or raven, ]»robably with some notion of gi%ing to the arrow the death- 

 dealing quality of the bird. < )ut of the fifty-(me arrows in the collec- 

 tion, only niiu' are featliercd with gidl's feathers, and of these all but 

 two are new. or newly featliercd for sale to us.- Dr. Simiison'' says that 

 in liis time '■ feathers for arrows and head-dresses." probably the eagles' 

 feathers ]ircviously mentioned, were obtained in trade from the "Numi- 



Foiir kinds of arrows were used: the bear arrow, of which there were 

 three varieties, tlie deer arrow, the arrow for geese, gulls, and other large 

 fowl, and the blunt headed arrow for killing small birds without man- 

 gling them. 



' KnivclMiifitia Britannic-i, 9tll cjitiou, article Arclit-r.v. 



2 Oil tliis siilyci-t of usinj;tlio fmtliers of Ijirds ofprc.v for-irrows, comp.ire Crantz, History of Green, 

 laiiil, i, 11.116, "the arrow . . . winged lieliind wltli a couplo of raven's feathers." Beasels, 

 Naturalist, vol.18, pt. 9. p. »r,9 (tin. three arrows at Ita had raviMi's featliers). Parry,2d Voyage, p. 

 511, "Toward tlio opposite end of the arrow are two feathers, senerally of the spotted owl. not verj- 

 nratlyl.-i.shedi>n;"and Kun.lien, Contrihutions, p. 37, "The feather-vanes were nearly .always ni.-ide 

 from the primaries ..f Strix >^canduica or Cracuhis carbn." The last is the only mention I tind of using 



'Op.cit.,p.260. 



