330 
THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
Every alternate deck beam is braced to the gunwale at each end by 
an oblique lashing of whalebone, running from a transverse hole in the 
Fic. 340.—Dou- 
ble kayak 
paddle. 
beam about 1 inch from the gunwale to a corresponding 
hole in the gunwale, three-quarters inch from the lower 
edge. The lashing makes three or four turns through 
these holes and around the lower edge of the gunwale, and 
the end is wrapped spirally round these turns for their 
whole length. Above these beams a narrow batten runs 
fore and aft amidships from cockpit to stem and stern, 
mortised into the two beams at the cockpit, and lashed 
to the others with whalebone. The coaming of the cock- 
pit is made of a single flat piece of wood, 13 inches broad 
and one-quarter inch thick, bent into a hoop with the ends 
lapping about 6 inches and “sewed” together with stitches 
of whalebone. Round the upper edge of this, on the out- 
side, is fitted a ‘half-round” hoop, which appears to be 
made of willow, three-quarters by one-third inch, with its 
ends lapped about 4 inches, this lap coming over the joint 
of the larger hoop. It is fastened on by short stitches of 
whalebone about 5 or 6 inches apart, leaving room enough 
between the two hoops to allow a lacing of fine whalebone 
to pass through. The coaming is put on over the edge of 
the skin cover, which is drawn up tight inside of the coam- 
ing and over its upper edge and fastened by a lacing of 
whalebone, which runs spirally round the outer hoop and 
through holes about one-half inch apart in the edge of the 
cover. 
The coaming fits over the crown of the arch of the for- 
ward deck beam and rests on the middle of the thwart aft, 
and is secured by lashings of whalebone, which pass through 
holes in the coaming and over its upper edge. The forward 
lashing makes three turns, which pass round the beam with 
the end wrapped spirally round the parts between beam 
and coaming; the after lashing, four similar turns, which 
pass through a hole in the thwart and around its forward 
edge. Oneach side is a stout vertical brace of wood 34 
inches long, 1 inch wide, and one-half inch thick, with 
rounded edges and corners. The ends are cut out paral- 
lel to the breadth, so that one end fits on to the upper 
edge of the gunwale, while the other receives the lower 
edge of the coaming, protruding on the outside through a 
hole in the cover. 
The cover is of six sealskins, put together heads to tails, 
so that there is only one longitudinal seam, which runs 
irregularly along the deck. The transverse seams, which 
run obliquely across the bottom are double and sewed 
