Murpocn. ] ROW TOOLS. 293 
seribed. The manner in which this tool is used is as follows: The end 
is inserted between the strands at the middle of the bow, so that the 
ridge or hook catches the lower strands, and the end is carried over 
through an are of 180°, which gives the cable a half turn of 
twist. This brings the twister against the bow, so that the twisting can 
be carried no further in this direction, and if the tool were to be removed 
for a fresh start the strands would have to be held or fastened in some 
way, making the process a slow one. Instead, the tool is slid back be- 
tween the strands till the other end comes where the first was, so that 
the hook at this end catches the strand, and the workman can give to 
the cable another half turn of twist. This is continued until the cable 
is sufliciently twisted, the tool sliding back and forth like the handle of 
avise. The tools are used in pairs, one being inserted in each cable 
and manipwated with each hand, so as to give the same amount of twist 
to each cable. At the present day, these tools are seldom used for bow 
making, since the sinew-backed bow is so nearly obsolete, but are em- 
ployed in playing a game of the nature of pitch-penny. (See below, 
under games and pastimes.) 
These tools, of which we collected twenty-six specimens, are all of 
walrus ivory, and of almost exactly the same shape, varying a little in 
size and ornamentation. They vary in length from 5 to 5:7 inches, but 
are usually about 45 inches long. The commonest width is 0-4 inches, 
the narrowest being 0°3 and the width 0:7 broad, while the thickness is 
almost always 0:3, varying hardly 0-1 inch. Most of them are plain, but 
a few are ornamented with incised lines, and two are marked with 
“eireles and dots” as in Fig. 286, one of a rather large pair (No. 56521 
%4 
—— Sanaa EEE ecesneemeneeaeeeciee 
Fig. 286.—Twister for working sinew backing of bow. 
[249] from Utkiavwin). These are 5-4 inches long, n satly made and 
quite clean. All the others show signs of age and use. 
There are large numbers of these tools in the National Museum trom 
various points in the region where bows of the Arctic type are used, 
namely, from the Anderson River to Norton Sound, and one from St. 
Lawrence Island, whence we have received no twisted bows. Their use 
was, however, not definitely understood, as they are described simply 
as “bow tools,” ‘bow string twisters” or even ‘arrow polishers.” Mr. 
Nelson informs me that the tool is now not used in Norton Sound, except 
for playing a game, as at Point Barrow, but that the natives told him 
that they were formerly used for tightening the backing on a bow and 
also for twisting the hard-laid sinew cord, which is quite as much, if not 
more, used at Norton Sound as the braid so common at Point Barrow. 
I find no mention of the use of this tool in any of the authors who have 
