435 





specific purpose, which indeed we learned in the cum' oI ^ouw ol those 

 in the collection. Likethe amnletsof the Grcenlandeis, tlie\ .ii)pi ii to 

 be ' "certain animals or things which had belonged to oi be( n in contact 

 with certain persons (e. g., the people of an- 

 cient times, or fortunate hunters) or supernat- 

 ural beings," and "objects which merely by their 

 appearance recalled the effect expected from the 

 amulet, such as figures of various objects." To 

 the latter class belong the rudely flaked flint 

 images of whales, already mentioned, and prob- 

 ably many of the other small images of men 

 and animals akeady described, especially those 

 fitted with holes for strings to hang them up by. 

 The flint whale is a very common amulet, in- 

 tended, as we understood, to give good luck in 

 whaling, and is worn habitually b> many of 

 the men and boys under the clothes, susi)endcd 

 around the neck by a string. The captain and 

 harpooner of a whaling crew also wear them 

 as pendants on the fillets already described, '"'"' 4.1 -\\iiii luu^i n m 

 and on the breast of the jacket. We obtained 



five of these objects, all of very nearly the same shape, but of differ 

 cut materials and varying somewhat in size. Fig. 421 represents one 

 of these (No. 5()7()3 [SOS] from Utkiavwin) made of a piece of hard 

 colorless glass, probaldy a fragment of a ship's " deadhght." It is rather 

 roughly flaked into a figure of a "bowhead" whale, 3-4 inches long, as 

 seen from above and very much flattened with exaggerated flukes. 

 The flippers were rudely indicated in the outline, but the left one is 

 broken off'. 



n I from Utkiavwin is a, very sinular image, 2-4 inches 



•haps is of the same material, though it may be made of 



rock crystal. No. odTOT [159] from 



rtkiiivwin is a very small whale (1-4 



iiirlics long), chipped in large flakes 



out of a water-worn pebble of smoky 



cpuirtz, while No. 80577 [9.30] Fig. 



422, from the same village, which is 



a trifle larger (2 inches long), is made 



of dark crimson jasper. The large 



,e.l jasper. y^jj^^.j, g-^^ ^j^halc, No. 5C(i83 [Gl], 



which is 3-0 inches long, is the rudest of all the 



It is precisely the shape of the blade of a skin 



scraper, except for the roughly indicated flukes. 



Fig. 423 (No. 89.524 [1209] from Utkiavwiii) is a rude wooden image 

 of the same aninuil, 3.J inches long, very broad and flat-bellied. 



No. so(;i3 [7: 



long, wliich pel 



also fi-om Utkiavwin, 

 figures of the whales. 



It is 



