MURDOCH. } WALRUS HARPOONS. 225 
degrees round the shaft from the line catch is the finger rest—a conical 
recurved piece of ivory 1 inch high, with a flat base, resting against the 
shaft and secured by a lashing of whalebone, which passes through two 
corresponding holes, one in the rest and one in the shaft. The head and 
line belonging to this harpoon are intended for hunting the bearded 
seal, and will be described below. No. 56772 [536], Fig. 214b, from 
Utkiavwin, is fitted with fairly typical walrus gear. The head is of 
the typical form, 6 inches long, with a conoidal body of walrus ivory, 
ornamented with incised lines colored with red ocher, and a blade of steel 
secured by a whalebone rivet. The “leader,” which is about 15 inches 
long, is made by passing one end of a piece of stout. walrus-hide thong 
about one-quarter inch wide through the line hole and doubling it with 
the head in the bight, so that one part is about 6 inches the longer. 
The two parts are stopped together about 2 inches from the head 
with a bit of sinew braid. The ends are joined and made into a becket, 
as follows: The longer end is doubled back for 7 inches and a slit eut 
through both parts about 2 inches from the end. The shorter end is 
passed through this slit, and a slit is cut 5 inches from the end of this, 
through which the loop of the other end is passed and all drawn taut. 
The whole joint is then tightly seized with sinew braid so as to leave a 
becket 5 inches and a free end 4 inches long. This becket is looped into 
an eye 1} inches long at the end of the main line, made by doubling 
over 5 inches of the end and stopping the two parts firmly together 
with sinew braid. The line is of the hide of the bearded seal, about the 
same diameter as the leader, and 27 feetlong. It is in two nearly equal 
parts, spliced together with double slits, firmly seized with sinew 
braid. There is a becket about 8 inches long at the other end of the 
line for attaching the float, made by doubling over the end and tying a 
earrick bend, the end of which is stopped back to the standing part 
with sinew braid. The becket to hook upon the line cateh is a bit of 
sinew braid, fastened to the line 25 feet from the head, as follows: One 
end being laid against the line it is doubled in a bight and the end is 
whipped down to the line by the other end, which makes five turns 
round them. 
I will now consider the variations of the different parts of these har- 
poons in detail, beginning with the head. Our series is so large, con- 
taining in all forty-eight heads, besides some spare blades, that it 
probably gives a fair representation of the common variations. The 
longest of this series is 6 inches long and the shortest 34, but by far the 
greater number are from 44 to 5 inches long. Their proportions are 
usually about as in the types figured, but the long head just figured 
(No, 56772 [534]) is also unusually slender. Sheet brass is the com- 
monest material for the blade (thirty blades are of this material), though 
iron or steel is sometimes used, and rarely, at present, slate. There is 
one slate-bladed head in the series (No, 56620 [199]) figured above, and 
four blades for such heads. The blade is commonly of the shape of the 
9 ETH 15 
