248 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
Fig. 251a represents one of these boxes (No. 56505 [138]) intended 
for spare blades for the whale harpoon. This is rather neatly carved 
from a single block of soft wood, apparently spruce, though it is very 
old and much weathered, in the shape of a ‘“ bowhead” whale, 94 inches 
long. The ends of the flukes are broken short off, and show traces of 
haying been mended with wooden pegs or dowels. The right eye is 
indicated by a simple incision, but a tiny bit of erystal is inlaid for the 
left. Two little bits of crystal are also inlaid in the middle of the back. 
The belly is flat and excavated into a deep triangular cavity, with its 
base just forward of the angle of the mouth and the apex at the 
Fig, 250,—F lipper toggles. 
“small.” It is beveled round the edge, with a shoulder at the base and 
apex, and is covered with a flat triangular piece of wood beveled on 
the under face to fit the edge of the cavity. About half of one side 
of the cover has been split off and mended on with two “stitches” of 
whalebone fiber. The cover is held on by three strings of seal thong 
passing through holes in each corner of the cover and secured by a 
