MURDOCH. ] HARPOONS. 223 
Throwing-harpoons are always thrown from the hand without a 
throwing-board or other assistance, and are of two sizes, one for the 
walrus and bearded seal, and one for the small seals. Both have a long 
shaft of wood to the tip of which is attached a heavy bone or ivory fore- 
shaft, usually of greater diameter than the shaft and somewhat club- 
shaped. This serves the special purpose of giving weight to the head 
of the harpoon, so it can be darted with a sure aim. The native name 
of this part of the spear, ukumailuta (Greenlandic, okimailutak, weight), 
indicates its design. This contrivance of weighting the head of the 
harpoon with a heavy foreshaft is peculiar to the western Eskimo. On 
all the eastern harpoons (see figures referred to above and the Museum 
collections) the foreshaft is a simple cap of bone no larger than the shaft 
the tip of which it protects. Between the foreshaft and the toggle-head 
is interposed the loose shaft (i’gimi), a slender rod of bone whose tip 
fits into the shaft socket of the head, while its butt fits loosely in a socket 
in the tip of the foreshaft. It is secured to the shaft by a thong just 
long enough to allow it to be unshipped from the foreshaft. This not 
only prevents the loose shaft from breaking under a lateral strain, but 
by its play facilitates unshipping the head. On these harpoons intended 
for throwing, this loose shaft is always short. This brings the weight 
of the foreshaft close to the head, while it leaves space enough for the 
head to penetrate beyond the barb. 
The walrus harpoon varies in size, being adapted to the strength and 
statnre of the owner. Of the six in our collection, the longest, when 
mounted for use, is 9 feet 6 inches long, and the shortest 5 feet 8 
inches. The ordinary length appears to be about 7 feet. It has a long, 
heavy shaft (ipua) of wood, usually between 5 and 6 feet long and 
tapering from a diameter of 14 inches at the head to about Linch at the 
butt. The head is not usually fastened directly to the line, but has a 
leader of double thong 1 to 2 feet long, with a becket at the end into 
which the main line is looped or hitched. At the other end of the line, 
which is about 30 feet long, is another becket to which is fastened a 
float consisting of a whole sealskin inflated. When the head is fitted 
on the tip of the loose shaft the line is brought down to the middle of 
the shaft and hooked by means of a little becket to an ivory peg (ki/lerb- 
win) projecting from the side of the shaft. The eastern Eskimo have, 
in place of the simple becket, a neat little contrivance consisting of a 
plate of ivory lashed to the line with a large slot in it which hooks over 
the catch, but nothing of the sort was observed at Point Barrow. 
The harpoon thus mounted is poised in the right hand with the fore- 
finger resting against a curved ivory projection (ti/ka) and darted like a 
white man’s harpoon, the float and line being thrown overboard at the 
same time. Whena walrus is struck the head slips off and toggles as al- 
ready described; the line detaches itself from the catch, leaving the shaft 
free to float and be picked up. The float is now fastened to the wal- 
rus, and, like the shaft of the seal dart, both shows his whereabouts 
