FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS. 563 



tailed. He records that the " women appear to be more accustomed 

 than the men to the use of this implement." 



He gives also a most interesting observation on the use of a weighted 

 pump drill among the Chukchis. The Chukchis also use flint and 

 steel.* 



The drilling set from Point Barrow (pi. lxxvi, fig. 32), will show 

 the appearance of the parts of the fire-drill if we substitute the ronnd 

 stick for the flint drill. Some of the old drill stocks are pointed with 

 finely chipped flint heads. The length of these points varies from 2 to 4 

 inches ; the transverse section of one would be a parabola. They are 

 in general more finely wrought than any of the prehistoric drills found 

 in various localities all over the world. Prehistoric man was an adept 

 in the art of drilling stone, boue, and shell ; the stone tubes, some of 

 them 18 inches long, bored very truly, are triumphs of the American 

 Indians. Without doubt the prehistoric drill points were mounted like 

 the Eskimo specimen, and were, perhaps, twirled between the hands, 

 the almost universal method of using the fire-drill. Japanese carpen- 

 ters drill holes in this way. 



The winged mouth-piece is also a good example of workmanship. It 

 is set with a mottled, homogeneous stone that is tolerably soft, which 

 gives a minimum friction. This stone is much affected by the tribes 

 over quite an extent of coast for labrets, etc. It is probably an article 

 of trade as are flints. The bow is of walrus tusk, accurately made, but 

 poorly engraved in comparison with the life-like art work of the south- 

 ern Eskimo. 



Another drilling set is from Sledge Island (pi. lxxvii, fig. 33). The 

 Museum has no fire-making specimen from this locality. The drill 

 stock is set with a point of jadeite lashed in with sinew cord. The bow 

 is of walrus ivory ; it is rounded on the belly and flat on the back. 

 All Eskimo bows of ivory have a like curve, no doubt determined by 

 the shape of the walrus tusk. In another, the most common form of 

 the bow, its section is nearly an isosceles triangle, one angle coming in 

 the center of the belly of the bow. The head is intended to be held in 

 one or both hands ; it agrees in form with the rude St. Lawrence 

 Island heads. 



Mr. E. W. Kelson collected at Uualakleet, in Korton Sound, a fire- 

 drill, and the native names of the parts. The name of the set is 

 dd-jdo-gii-tat ; the mouth-piece, na-glwotuJc ; the drill, dd-jdo-ga-tuk ; 

 the hearth of tinder- wood, athl-nlc ; the bow, arshu-low-shuJc-pish-iJc- 

 sin-uk. 



This is a complete set (fig. 34) in first-rate order. The hearth has 

 central holes along a deep median groove. Its bottom is flat, and it is 

 rounded off on the sides and ends. All the parts are of pine wood, 

 decorated in places with red paint. The drill is quite long, much longer 

 than in any Eskimo set observed. It resembles more the Indian drill 



* NordensliioUl,— Voj'age of tlje Vega, Loudon, 1881, jx, I'-iO, V^l, 



