172 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
he prized it very much from its association, and it was only after two 
years of careful effort that I succeeded in obtaining it by paying what 
he considered a large price. Other jade knives, somewhat similar to 
this but much smaller and with less perfect blades, were also seen. 
Knives are usually worn by the Eskimo in a sheath strapped to the 
outside of the right thigh, just below the hip, so that the handle may 
readily be grasped; some of the men, however, have the sheath sus- 
pended from the waist belt. 
DRAG HANDLES 
Drag handles, attached to a stout permanent loop of sealskin cord, 
are used for hauling dead seals or other heavy weights over the snow 
or ice. They are made of wood, bone, ivory, or deerhorn, carved in a 
variety of forms, considerable ingenuity being exercised in adapting 
the designs to the shape of the handle and to the purpose for which it 
is to be used. 
Plate Lxv1, 16, from Kushunuk, is a cylindrical wooden handle, 
grooved around the middle for receiving the loop. 
Plate Lxvi, 4, from St Michael, is an ivory handle, in the form of a 
crossbar, with the head of a white bear carved 
on each end and a square slot crosswise through 
the middle for receiving the cord. 
Plate Lxv1, 18, from Cape Darby, represents 
two white whales lashed together on their ven- 
tral surfaces and pierced through the middle for 
receiving the ends of the cords, which project 
through their mouths and form a loop on that end. The other ends of 
the whales terminate in a ring from which are suspended six links 
of ivory; to the last link of one of these chains is suspended a small 
carving in the form of a whale’s tail. 
Plate LXv1, 14, shows a handle, from Sledge island, in the form of a 
white bear. A cord passes through the lower surface. 
A rounded block, carved in the form of two seals lying face to face, 
with their fore-flinpers along their muzzles, is illustrated in plate LXv1, 
1. It has two holes pierced in one end which join and issue as a single 
hole at the other end. It was obtained at Unalaklit. 
Plate LXvI, 15, represents a handle, from Sledge island, in the shape 
of a white whale, which is pierced transversely for the cord. 
Figure 46 shows an ivory cord handle from Sledge island. It is an 
extremely artistic carving, representing the head of a white bear with 
a small seal in its mouth. On the lower surface of the head is a figure, 
in relief, of another seal. 
Plate LXVI, 19, shows another elaborate drag handle from Cape Darby. 
The central portion consists of a piece of ivory, pierced by two round 
holes, and a third one forming a slot through which is passed the cord 
for the loop. From one of these rings is hung, as a link, the tail of a 
whale, and from the other two chains, each consisting of eight links, 
Fic. 46—Cord handle of ivory (4). 
