244 
THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
jasper, brown and gray, and has a piece of white sealskin lapped over 
Fic. 245.—Deer lance, flint head. 
the cleft of the shaft at each side of the tang so that the edges 
of the two pieces almost meet in the middle. They are secured 
by a spaced whipping of sinew braid. This shaft, which is 
painted red, evidently had a broad head formerly, as it is 
expanded at the tip. No. 89896 [1524] is the mate to this, evi- 
dently made to match it. We also obtained one other flint- 
headed lance. The mate to No. 89900 [1157], No. 89898 [1157], 
has a head of dark gray slate 2-3 inches long. - This spear ap- 
pears to be wholly old, except the whipping of sinew braid. 
The shaft is of spruce, 5 feet 43 inches long, and painted red 
with ocher. We also collected three stone heads for such lances. 
Fig. 246, No, 38711 [148], from Utkiavwin, shows the shape of 
the tang. It is of gray flint, and 3-7 inches long. No, 89610 
[1154] is a beautiful lance head of polished olive green jade, 4:3 
inches long. The hole in the tang is probably not intended 
for a rivet, as none of the lance heads which we 3 
saw were fastened in this way. It is more likely 
that it was perforated for attaching it to the belt 
asanamulet. We were told that this lance head 
was brought from the west. <A large slate lance 
head found by Nordenski6ld' in the old “Onkilon” 
house at North Cape is of precisely the same shape 
as these deer-lance heads, but from its size was 
probably intended for a whale lance. 
THROWING WEAPONS. 
The only throwing weapon which these people 
as 3 ae S 2 Fie. 246. —Flint 
use is a small bolas, designed for catching birds ~j0q tr deer 
on the wing. This consists of six or seven small lance. 
ivory balls, each attached to a string about 30 inches long, the 
ends of which are fastened together to a tuft of feathers, which 
serves as a handle and perhaps directs the flight of the missile. 
When not in use the strings are shortened up, as in Fig. 247, 
No. 75969 [1793], for convenience in carrying and to keep them 
from tangling, by tying them into slip knots, as follows: All 
the strings being straightened out and laid parallel to each 
other, they are doubled in a bight, with the end under the 
standing part, the bight of the end passed through the preced- 
ing bight, which is drawn up close, and so on, usually five or 
six times, till the strings are sufficiently shortened. A pull 
on the two ends slips all these knots and the strings come out 
straight and untangled. 
The bolas is carried knotted up in a pouch slung round the 
neck, a native frequently carrying several sets. When a flock 
of ducks is seen approaching, the handle is grasped in the right 
1Vega, vol. 1, p. 444, Fig. 7. 
