408 



Thomas Thomsen. 



Fig. 3. 



Aboriginal 



American 



Harpoons 



pi. 4). 



For convenience of comparison, Mason's two illustrations are here 

 shown in Fig. 3 — 4. 



The Editor is right in saying, that Mason, after giving a perfectly- 

 correct description of the loose shaft, and describing — likewise correctly 

 — the foreshaft in this specimen as having a projection, 

 incorrectly adds: "for the socket on the base of the loose 

 shaft". Even the uninitiated reader will at once see from 

 the illustration that the description is incorrect only in 

 this one point (Fig. 3). 



Had Mr. Thalbitzer stopped at this, all would have 

 been well. Not content however, with challenging the 

 description of the East Greenland harpoon, he goes so 

 far as to include the South Greenland also (Fig. 4). In 

 this case, however, Mason's description will be found to 

 be in entire agreement with his illustration, 

 (After O. T. which suggests the possibility of Mr. Thal- 

 .\l\sov: bitzer's having misunderstood the passage, 

 the more so, since we are told that Fridtjof 

 Nansen gives a drawing "which, though in- 

 distinctly, shows the same error in confusing 

 the loose shaft and the foreshaft". 

 Might it not now be worth while to look closer in- 

 to the matter, and see if possibly Mr. Thalbitzer him- 

 self may be in error? It will soon be realised that the 

 main point lies in the sentence about the two Greenland 

 harpoons which are said to "differ from the Greenland 

 type known elsewhere". "The Greenland type as known 

 to the Editor" would have been more correct. As a 

 matter of fact, Fig. 3 is from East Greenland, whereas 

 Fig. 4 is from the southern part of West Greenland, 

 Nansen's specimen being presumably from the Godt- 

 haab district. 



Mr. Thalbitzer declares that all the Greenland 

 harpoons he has seen have always had "the tenon (or 

 projection) .... on the base of the loose shaft and the 

 socket on the flat top of the foreshaft". 



Strange, that with all his journeyings in search of 

 information, — to Berlin (1904, 1907 and 1912) to 

 Vienna (1908) to Christiania (1908) to Stockholm (1908 and 1910), 

 London (1909) and Dublin (1909) 1 he should never have come 

 across harpoons of the other type. I do not know what the 

 Museums of these cities may have to show in this respect; I can, 

 however, refer Mr. Thalbitzer to the series of 10 harpoons and 6 



Fig. 4. 

 (After О. T. 

 Mason: Ab- 

 original Ameri- 

 can Harpoons 

 fig. 49). 



1 Thalb. II, p. 328. 



