236 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
(a‘jyin). This is 6 feet 11 inches in length when rigged for use. The 
shaftis of pine, 5 feet 84 inches long, 
with its greatest diameter (14 inches) 
well forward of the middle and ta- 
pered more toward the butt than 
toward the tip, which is chamfered 
off on one side to fit the butt of the 
foreshaft (igimt), and shouldered to 
keep the lashing in place. The fore- 
shaft is of whale’s bone, 114 inches 
long, three-sided with one edge 
rounded off, and tapers from a diam- 
eter of 1 inch to a tapering rounded 
point 1$ inches long, and slightly 
curved away from the flat face of the 
foreshaft. It will easily be seen that 
the shape of this tip facilitates the 
unshipping of the head. The butt is 
chamfered off on the flat face to fit 
the chamfer of the shaft, and the 
whole foreshaft is slightly curved in 
the same direction as the tip. It is 
secured to the shaft by a stout whip- 
ping of seal thong. The head is 7 
\ inches long, and has a body of wal- 
rus ivory, which is ornamented with 
incised patterns colored red with 
ocher, and a blade of dark reddish 
brown jasper, neatly flaked. This 
blade is not unlike a large arrow 
head, being triangular, with curved 
edges, and a short, broad tang im- 
bedded in the tip of the body, which 
is seized round with sinew braid. 
The body is unusually long and slen- 
der and is four sided, with a single 
long, sharp barb, keeled on the outer 
face. The line hole and line grooves 
are in the usual position, but the 
peculiarity of the head is that the 
blade is inserted with its breadth in 
the plane of the body barb. In other 
words, this head has not reached the 
: last stage in the development of the 
FIG. 231.—Model of whale harpoon with floats. togele-head. The line is of stout 
thong (the skin of the bearded seal) and about 84 feet long. It is passed 
