MURDOCH. ] SLEDGES. 353 
LAND CONVEYANCES. 
Sledges—The only land conveyance employed at Point Barrow is 
the universal sledge of the Eskimo, of which there are two forms in 
general use, one, ka/moti, with a high rail on each side, and especially 
intended for carrying loads of the smaller articles, clothing, camp 
equipage, etc., and the other (unia) low and flat, without rail or ‘ up- 
stander,” for carrying bulky objects, like whole carcasses of deer, frozen 
seals, rough dried deerskins, ete., and especially used for carrying the 
umiak across the land or solid ice. Both 
kinds are made without nails, but are fast- 
ened together by mortises and lashings and 
stitches of thong and whalebone. I have, 
however, seen one unia, which was made in 
1883, fastened together with nails, a rather 
inferior substitute for the lashings, as they 
not only would not hold so firmly, but 
would also be liable to break in cold 
weather. 
Both kinds of sledge are made of drift- 
wood and shod with strips of whale’s jaw, 
about three-fourths of an inch thick, fas- 
tened on with bone treenails. These bone 
runners, which are about 2 inches wide, run 
sufficiently well over ice, hard snow, the 
frozen gravel of the beach or even on the 
bare tundra, but for carrying a heavy load over the softer snow of the 
interior they are shod with ice in a manner peculiar to this region. 
It is well known that not only the Eskimo generally, but other hyper- 
borean people coat the runners of their sleds with ice to make them run 
more smoothly, but this is usually only a comparatively thin crust, pro- 
duced by pouring water on the runners or applying a mixture of snow 
or mud and water.' Mr. Turner informs me that at Ungava they are 
particular to use fine black vegetable mold for this purpose. 
The method at Point Barrow is quite different from this. To each 
Fig. 355.—Old “Chief” with staffs. 
1for example, Lyon says that at Fury and Hecla Straits the runners are coated with ice by mixing 
snow and fresh water (Journal, p. 235); (See also Parry, 2d Voyage, p. 515). At Cumberland Gulf 
“they pour warmed blood on the under surface of the bone shoeing; some use water, but this does 
not last nearly so long as the blood and is more apt to chip off.’ Kumlien, Contributions, p. 42; (See 
also Hall, Arctic Researches, p. 582). Around Repulse Bay they ice the runners by squirting over 
them water which has been warmed in the mouth, putting on successive layers till they get a smooth 
surface. This is renewed the first thing every morning. Gilder, Schwatka’s Search, p. 66. A na- 
tive of the eastern shore of Labrador, according to Sir John Richardson (Searching Expedition, vol, 
2, p. 82), applied to the runners coat after coat of earth or clay tempered with hot water, and then 
washed the runners with water, polishing the ice with his naked hand. MacFarlane in his MS. 
notes speaks of covering the sled runners with ‘‘earth, water, and ice” in the Mackenzie region. 
Petitot (Monographie, ete., p. XVII) says the runners in the Mackenzie and Anderson district are shod 
with ‘‘un bourrelet de limon et de glace,"' which has to be often renewed. Nordenskiéld says that 
at Pitlekaj ‘‘the runners, before the start, are carefully covered with a layer of ice from two to three 
millimeters in thickness by repeatedly pouring water over them,’ (Vega, vol. 2, p. 94). and accord- 
ing to Wrangell (Narrative, ete., p. 101, footnote) it is the common custom in northern Siberia to pour 
water over the runners every evening to produce a thin crust of ice. 
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