182 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
sharpened down. It is imbedded in a handle of fossil ivory which has 
turned a light yellowish brown from age. Its total length is 2-8 inches. 
Fig, 159,—Flint-bladed reamers. 
Hammers.—At the present day nearly every man has been able to 
procure an iron hammer of some kind, which he uses with great handi- 
ness. Before the introduction of iron, in addition to the bone and 
stone mauls above described as bone crushers, unhafted pebbles of con- 
venient shape were also employed. No. 56661 [274] is such a stone. It 
is an ovoid water-worn pebble of greenish gray quartzite, 34 inches long. 
The ends are battered, showing how it had been used. It was brought 
from one of the rivers in the interior by one of the natives of Utkiav- 
win. 
Files.—Files of all kinds are eagerly sought after by the natives, 
who use them with very great skill and patience, doing nearly all their 
metal work with these tools. For instance, 
one particularly ingenious native con- 
verted his Winchester rifle from a rim fire 
to a central fire with nothing but a file. To 
do this he had to make a new firing pin, as 
the firing pin of the rim-fire gun is too short 
to reach the head of the cartridge. He 
accomplished this by accurately cutting off. 
to the proper length, an old worn-out three- 
cornered file. He then filed off enough of 
each edge so that the rod fitted evenly in 
the cylindrical hole where the firing pin 
works. The work was done so carefully 
that the new firing pin worked perfectly, 
and he had only to complete the job by 
cutting off his central fire cartridge shells 
Fic. 160.—Flint- to a proper length to fit the chamber of 
bladed reamer. 
the gun. 
They have almost no knowledge of working metal with 
the aid of heat, as is natural from the scarcity of fuel. 7%! 
I have, however, seen them roughly temper small articles, such as fire 
steels, etc., by heating them in the fire and quenching them in cold 
—Awl. 
