48fi 



THE CENTRAL ESKIMO. 



catching all kinds of seal and walrus are almost identical, I shall 

 describe them together ; and, first, the most important part of the 

 hunting gear, the kayak and its belongings. 



The kayak (qajaq) is almost exclusively used for hunting by all 

 Eskimo tribes from Greenland to Alaska. According to Bessels the 

 Ita natives do not know its use, though they have retained the word. 

 As a connection exists between this tribe and those of Baffin Land, 

 I have no doubt that they are acquainted with the use of the boat, 

 though it may be of little avail in that ice encumbered region. When 

 I first visited the tribes of Davis Strait no kayak was to be found 

 between Cape Mercy and Cape Raper. nor had there been any for 

 several years. In the summer of ISS-t, however, two boats were built 

 by these natives. 



The general principles of thfir ci instruction are well known. The 

 kayak of theNugumiut, Ocimuiut. ami Akudnirmiut is bulky as com- 

 pared with that of GiiMulaiid and Hudson Bay. It is from twenty- 

 five to twenty-seven feet long and weighs from eighty to one hundred 

 pounds, while the Iglulik boats, according to Lyon (p. 323), range 

 from fifty to sixty pounds in weight. It may be that the Repulse 

 Bay boats are even lighter still. According to Hall they are not 

 heavier than twenty-five pounds (II, p. 210). 



Fig. 413. Frame of a kayak or hunting boat. (Musenm f iii- Viilkerkunde, Berlin.) 



The frame of the kayak (Fig. 413) consists, first, of two flat pieces 

 of wood which form the gunwale (apumang). From ten to twenty 

 beams (ajang) keep this frame on a stretch above. The greatest 

 width between them is a little behind the cock pit (p. 487). A strong 

 piece of wood runs from the cross jiit'ct' bi-fnre tlie liolc (niasin,:;) to 

 the stem, and another from the cross piciT abaft tlir lioli' (itirbiiiu) to 

 the stern (tuniqdjung). The proportion of the bow end to the stei'u 

 end, measured from the center of the hole, is 4 to d. The former has 

 a projection measuring one-fourth of its whole length. Setting aside 

 the projection, the hole lies in the very eenter of the body of the 

 kayak. A large number of ribs ((ikpiiin). from tliirly to sixty, are 

 fastened to the gunwales and kept steady by a keel (kujang). which 

 runs from stem to stern, and by two lateral strips of wood (siadnit), 

 which are fastened between gunwale and keel. The stem projection 

 (usujang), which rises gradually, begins at a strong beam (niutang) 

 and its rib (qaning). The extreme end of the stern (aqojang) is bent 

 upward. The bottom of the boat is partly formed by the keel, partly 

 by the side supports. The stern projection has a keel, but in the 

 body of the boat the side supports are bent down to the depth of the 

 keel, thus forming a flat bottom. Rising again gradiially they ter- 



