MURDOCH. ] ART. 391 
two iron points close together in the end of a handle. While weapons 
are decorated only with conventional patterns, other implements of 
bone or ivory, especially those pertaining to the chase, like the seal 
drags, ete., already mentioned, are frequently carved into the shape of 
animals, as well as being ornamented with conventional patterns. Cary- 
ings of animals’ heads usually have the mouth, nostrils, ete., indicated 
by blackened incisions, and often have small, colored beads, bits of 
wood, or ivory inlaid for the eyes. When beads are used, the perfora- 
tion of the bead is generally made to represent the pupil of the eye. 
Beads were also used for ornamenting dishes and other wooden objects. 
The harpoon blade boxes of wood carved into the shape of the animal 
to be pursued have been already described. Other wooden objects, like 
the shafts of lances, and arrows, paddles, boxes, dishes, the woodwork of 
snowshoes, sledges, umiaks, ete., are frequently painted either all over, 
or in stripes or bands. The pigment generally used is red ocher, some- 
times set off with stripes of black lead. The only case in which a differ- 
ent pigment is used is that of some arrows from Sidaru, which, in addi- 
tion to the usual black or red rings, have a rather dingy green ring 
round the shaft. This green looks as if it might have been derived from 
the “ereen fungus or peziza,” mentioned by Dall as in use among the an- 
cient Aleuts.'. The red ocher is applied smoothly in a rather thin coat 
which looks as if it were always put on in the manner observed by 
Capt. Herendeen, who saw aman painting anew sled at Utkiavwin. He 
licked the freshly scraped wood with his tongue, so as to moisten it 
with saliva and then rubbed it with a lump of red ocher. The custom 
of painting wooden objects with red ocher seemed to be rather more 
common among the ‘“Nunatanmiun,” from whom perhaps the Point 
Barrow people borrowed the fashion, which is not mentioned among the 
eastern Eskimo. Nordenskidld states that red is the favorite color 
among the natives of Pitlekaj.? 
The painting of the arrow shafts in many cases curiously resembles 
the marks used by modern archers to distinguish the ownership of their 
shafts, and may have formerly served the same purpose. We made no 
inquiries about the matter on the spot, and there is no certain evidence 
in the series of arrows collected that these are or are not marks of own- 
ership. Some arrows, apparently the property of the same man, have 
different marks, while arrows from different villages are similarly 
marked. On examining our series of fifty arrows from the three villages 
(fourteeen from Nuwtk, twenty from Utkiavywin, and sixteen from 
Sidaru) it will be seen that the commonest style of painting is to have 
the shaft painted red from the beginning or middle of the feathering to 
about one-fifth of its length from the head. Twenty arrows are marked 
in this way—eleven from Nuwik, belonging to at least two distinet 
sets, and nine from Utkiavwin, belonging to three sets. Nine have 
‘Contributions to N. A. Ethn., vol. 1, p. 86. *Vega, vol. 2, p. 185. 
