NELSON] BOWS AND ARROWS 157 
curve about fifteen inches from each end. It has a single cable of 
sinew as a backing, held in position by numerous cross lashings, and a 
long strip of ivory along the middle, under the backing, to give addi- 
tional strength. 
Figure 9, plate Lx, is a broad, thin bow from Razbinsky, with a raw- 
hide string and a sinew cable as backing, fastened by numerous cross- 
lashings; there is a double curve about a quarter of the distance from 
each end, in which is set a short, triangular wooden pin, having a 
broad base, and notched above to receive the backing. A strip of wood 
is inserted under the backing as a strengthener. 
Figure 26, plate Lx1), from the lower Yukon, represents a strip of 
bone, flat on one side and grooved on the other. It is intended for use 
as a strengthener to be inserted under the sinew backing of a bow. 
Figure 2, plate LI, is a small bow from St Michael, with a sinew 
' backing, fastened by a number of cross lashings at short intervals. 
Attached to the bow by means of long sinew cords are two slender 
bone arrows about nine inches long, with barbed points. This imple- 
ment is used for killing muskrats. The hunter, having found a hole of 
these animals in the ground, or at the entrance of their house, sits 
quietly down in front of it, with one of these arrows fitted on the string 
ready to shoot. The moment the head of the muskrat is seen at the 
mouth of the hole the arrow is loosed and the barb point entering the 
animal prevents its escape, while the cord that attaches the arrow to 
the bow enables the hunter to drag it out of its burrow. 
ARROWS 
ARROWS FOR LARGE GAME 
Several forms of arrows are used in different parts of the Alaskan 
mainland and on the adjacent islands. Among those collected the most 
important were the arrows used for hunting large game and in war. 
These consist of a straight wooden shaft, sometimes terminating in a 
foreshaft of bone or of ivory, with a stone or metal point set in a slot 
in the end. Others have a long point of bone or ivory with a sharp 
edge, either notched or smooth. 
Ligure 5, plate Lx1a, represents an arrow from Cape Darby, having 
a straight bone tip, suboval in cross section, with three notches on one 
side, and shaped to a sharp point. The shaft has a notch for the bow- 
string, but it is not feathered. 
Figure 9, plate Lx a, shows a deer arrow from Big lake, having a long 
bone point with four notches along each side, and a narrow, flattened 
base inserted in the split end of the shaft and firmly lashed to it by a 
sinew cord. At the butt of the arrow are three feathers with one side 
of the plume removed, the tips being inserted in little slits near the 
end of the shaft, and the butts, which point forward, being held in 
position by a sinew lashing. This is the method commonly adopted on 
the Alaskan mainland for attaching feathers to arrows. 
