218 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
We obtained five specimens of the form used at Point Barrow. No. 
89235 [523], Fig. 205a, belonging to the set of seal darts bearing the 
same collector’s number, has been selected as the type. This is made 
of spruce, and the hole is for the forefinger. <A little peg of walrus 
ivory, shaped like a flat-headed nail, is driven through the middle of 
the tip so that the edge of the head just projects into the groove. This 
fits into the hollow in the butt of the dart and serves to steady it. It 
is painted red on the back and sides. Fig. 205b, No. 89235 [60], differs 
from this in haying a double curve instead of being flat. A slight ad- 
vantage is gained by this as in a crooked lever. The catch is a small 
iron nail. The others are essentially the same as the type. No. 89234 
[528], has a small brass screw for the catch, and No, 89902 [1326], has 
an ivory peg of a slightly different shape, the head having only a pro- 
jecting point on one side. They are generally painted with 
red ocher except on the inside of the groove. There appears 
to be no difference between throwing-boards meant for seal 
darts and those used with the bird dart. 
Unfortunately I had no opportunity of observing aceu- 
rately how the handle was grasped, but it is probably held as 
seen by Beechey at Eschscholtz Bay,! namely, with the fore- 
finger in the hole, the thumb and middle finger clasped round 
the spear, and the third and little fingers clasping the handle 
under the spear. This seems a very natural way of holding 
it. Of course, the fingers release the spear at the moment 
of casting. All the throwing-boards from Point Barrow are 
right-handed. 
Harpoons.—All kinds of marine animals, including the 
smaller seals, which are also captured with the darts just 
deseribed and with nets, are pursued with harpoons of the 
same general type, but of different patterns for the different 
Fig. 206.—Har- Animals. They may be divided into two classes—those in- 
poon head. tended for throwing, which come under the head of projectile 
weapons, and those which do not leave the hand, but are thrust into the 
anual. These fall properly under the head of thrusting weapons. Both 
classes agree in having the head only attached permanently to the line, 
fitted loosely to the end of the shaft, and arranged so that when struck 
into the animal it is detached from the shaft, and turns under the skin 
at right angles to the line, like a toggle, so that it is almost impossible 
for it to draw out. 
No. 89793 [873], Fig. 206, is a typical toggle head of this kind, in- 
tended for a walrus harpoon (ttike), and will be described in full, as the 
names of the different parts will apply to all heads of this class. The 
body is a conoidal piece, 44 inches in length, and flattened laterally so 
that at the widest part it is 1 inch wide and 0:7 thick. On one side, 
which may be called the lower, it is cut off straight for about half the 
1 Voyage, p. 324. 
