50 G. Holm. 



Hunting on the ice. — In winter, when the ice covers fjords 

 and bays, the seals keep the breathing-holes in it open. These 

 holes are very small, and lie at the top of low ice-blisters of about 

 a foot and a half in diameter. When there is no snow on the ice, 

 they are very easily spotted. The hunter is in wait at the breathing- 

 hole, sitting on a three-legged stool, and watches for the moment 

 when the seal sticks up its snout in order to breathe. He then 

 sticks in its snout a little harpoon. The latter consists of a short 

 shaft, the pointed fore-end of which fits into a little toggle head of 

 bone or ivory (figs. 116, 129). The latter is held in place with the 

 aid of a line which with a small cord is jammed in a loop fastened 

 to the shaft. The huntsman holds the coils of the line in his left 

 hand. When the seal is stuck, the jamming is torn out by. the 

 resistance, and the toggle-head is detached from the shaft and turns 

 crosswise in the snout of the seal. The seal dives under, but is 

 hauled up to the hole with the line. With the ice-pick (a flat piece 

 of irOn or bone), which is fixed at the lower end of the shaft, the 

 hole is cut wide enough for the seal to be hauled through it, and 

 the plug (fig. 159) is inserted in the wound to stop the blood. In 

 this kind of hunting, bearskin boots or sandles are worn on top 

 of the other boots; similarly the stools are wrapped round with a 

 piece of bear skin under the legs so as to prevent any noise, which 

 would scare away the seals. This manner of hunting is known as 

 nigparpok, and is now and then indulged in in the northern part 

 of West Greenland. 



Another method of capturing seals in winter is to cut two holes 

 in the ice. One of them is made a few feet in diameter, and is 

 surrounded by a low mound of ice or snow. The other, which is 

 cut close by the side of it, is made just large enough for the har- 

 poon shaft to pass through it. The latter is a very long and very 

 thin shaft, at the end of which is a long thin hinged toggle-head 

 with a line in (figs. 117, 118, 123). This toggle-head which as far 

 as we know, has not previously been observed among the Eskimo, 

 consists of two parts, the piercing part and the shank. The piercing 

 part of the head has in the front a blade of iron or bone and is 

 hinged to the shank, whose lower end fits into a cavity of the long 

 shaft. The shank is held in place by the line, which with the aid 

 of a buckle or jammed little cord is fastened higher up on the 

 shaft. The lower end of the piercing part of the head lies against 

 the shank, and is held in place by a little loop. When the 

 harpoon is stuck into the seal, the loop runs off the piercing 

 part, which turns at right angles and toggles when the line is held 

 tight. At the same time the buckle or the little cord is detached, 



