448 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [ETH. ANN. 18 
and half seal, described as having the upper part of the body coy- 
ered with white skin, with long hair on the head, and the legs replaced 
by a seal’s body. It is a mythi- 
‘eal conception common among 
the western Eskimo. 
Figure 164, from Cape Van- 
couver, is a carving an inch and 
iG Ane ar fina anions eae three-quarters long, representing 
figure (9). a walrus. On the breast is a 
~ human face, inclosed within the 
front flippers and looking forward, intended to represent the features 
of the walrus inwa. The body is ornamented with concentric circles 
Fic. 163—Carving representing a mermaid-like Fic. 164—Ivory carving showing the face 
creature (3). of a walrus inua (full size). 
with central dots, made by filling round holes in the ivory with 
wooden plugs. The general execution of this carving is very good, 
the shape of the walrus, including the tusks, 
nostrils, and small sunken dots about the 
muzzle, representing bristles, being well re- 
produced. 
An ivory carving (number 43717), three 
inches in length, from Nunivak island, rep- 
resents a seal’s body with a man’s head and 
neck, It is pierced crosswise through the 
shoulders for the passage of a cord, and is 
used as a fastener for a woman’s belt. This 
represents one of the composite animals 
which figure in the mythology of this region. 
A carving, from Sledge island in Bering 
strait (number 45236), represents a seal’s 
body with a semihuman face. It is pierced 
lengthwise along the lower side for the pas- 
sage of a cord, is used for the same purpose 
as the specimen last described, and, like it, 
illustrates a mythic animal. 
Another carving (figure 135), from the 
northern shore of Norton sound, is 45 inches 
in length, made from mammoth ivory, and 
represents a white bear carrying upon its back the extended figure of 
aman lying face downward with his head over the animal’s hips and 
Fic, 165—Drawing of mythic 
creature in a wooden tray (4). 
