166 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
piece of reindeer antler which has been reduced in thickness by sawing 
out a slice for 8 inches from the butt and bringing the two parts together 
with four stout wooden treenails about 14 inches apart. This is pref- 
erable to trimming it down to a proper thickness from the surface, as 
the latter process would remove the compact tissue of the outside and 
expose the soft inside tissue. The whipping of seal thong just above 
the flange of the butt helps to give a better grip and, at the same time, 
to hold the parts together. As before, there are two large holes for 
the lashing. Adzes of this sort are used for all large pieces of wood 
work, such as timbers for boats, planks, and beams for houses, ete. 
After roughly dressing these out with the adz they are neatly smoothed 
off with the crooked knife, or sometimes, of late years, with the plane. 
The work of “getting out” the large pieces of wood is almost always 
done where the drift log lies on the beach. When a man wants a new 
stem or sternpost for his umiak, or a plank to repair his house, he 
searches along the beach until he finds a suitable piece of driftwood, 
Fig. 129.—Hatchet hafted as an adz. ~ 
which he claims by putting a mark on it, and sometimes hauls up out 
of the way of the waves. Then, when he has leisure to go at the work, 
he goes out with his adz and spends the day getting it into shape and 
reducing it to a convenient size to carry home, either slung on his back 
or, if too large, on a dog-sled. A man seldom takes the trouble to carry 
home more of a piece of timber than he actually needs for the purpose 
in hand. ; 
The adz was in general use long before the introduction of iron. 
There is in the collection a very interesting series of ancient tools, 
showing the gradual development of the implement from a rude oblong 
block of stone worked down to a cutting edge on one end, to the 
steel adzes of the present day. They have, however, not even yet 
learned to make an eye in the head of the tool in which to insert the 
haft, but all tools of this class—adzes, hammers, picks, and mattocks— 
are lashed, with one face resting against the expanded end of the haft. 
Firmness is obtained by putting the lashing on wet and allowing it to 
shrink tight. Nearly all these ancient adzes are of jade, a material 
well adapted for the purpose by its hardness, which, however, renders 
