HORNS AND TUSKS 321 



wonderful ingenuity by natives of St. Christian Island, one 

 of the Marquesas group. They were used as adornments 

 of a native drum, and had the repute of being sacred, so 

 that only privileged persons were permitted to touch them. 

 These particular specimens were secured from the native 

 chief Mateo Annatatea. This museum also has a drill- 

 bow made of walrus ivory which had been used to twirl 

 the drill of a primitive fire-making outfit. A leather strap 

 was wrapped once around the shaft and the ends of the leather 

 were then fastened in the holes at the extremities of the bow. 

 Its movement caused the shaft to revolve rapidly in the socket 

 of the bed piece. This was made by Alaskan Indians. An 

 ivory fan-handle in the Museum, from the Marquesas Islands, 

 once belonged to the collection of Dr. John Rabe, as did also 

 the idol ornaments made from human bone.* 



The scrimshaw work was frequently accomplished by 

 obtaining a picture from a print, or otherwise from a photo- 

 graph, pasting it on the walrus tooth, walrus tusk, or walrus 

 bone, and with a sharp point piercing the paper, thus pro- 

 ducing the principal outlines of the subject, then the paper 

 was soaked off and the final details were finished with the 

 same knife or pointed tool used in fixing the outlines. 



One of the most interesting objects of scrimshaw work 

 is a mammoth tusk, 12 ft. along the curve and weighing 

 75 lbs., obtained in Alaska by an American sailor, who 

 had resided there for some years, and who carefully removed 

 the bark of the tusk and then produced 57 views of Alaskan 

 scenery with remarkable fidelity, decorating the entire 

 tusk from the tip to within six inches of the lower end. As 

 this was work executed some fifty or more years ago, the tusk 

 has a great value as picturing scenes in many places in Alaska 

 at that time. It is now in the collection of the Golden 

 Gate Park Museum, San Francisco, California. 



*Communicated by Mrs. D. W. de Vere, Acting Curator of the Museum. 



