378 W. Thalbitzer 



of which is formed liked a delta; the ends of the three bottom 

 beams are mortised into the base of the delta); tunnaak the nether 

 part of nee'^taa, the deltoid part of it; pernera the mortising junction 

 of the median bottom beam and tunnaak; umia narqa the bottom 

 of the boat; pooa (plur. pooän) the skin cover; tuttutaa the thong 

 Avhich ties the cover to the upper side beam (toopia) after it has 

 been tightened over the gunwale; qitseet'^aa bone nail on the stem 

 and stern head (in the centre of the seat) which fixes and tightens 

 the cover (named alike in West Greenland); qulaacaa straps which tie 

 the ends of the gunwales to the stem and stern heads; itsorq^'eetaat 

 straps which tie the seats to the heads of the side frames. 



aqitV"aan the steerer (who steers with the steering oar sitting on 

 the stern seat); cutter, cätterpaaq the (woman) rower on the seat 

 nearest to the stern; cüukkaq the (woman) rower on the seat nearest 

 to the stem; ipiterniaaik "row!" qasiseertaarter the accompanying 

 kaiaker; napalin umiak supports (four or more posts) on which the 

 umiak is laid up in winter, bottom up, in the neighbourhood of 

 the house. 



The thin bands, which are seen in fig. 81 connecting the gun- 

 wale and the bottom, are only temporary to keep together the 

 different parts of the skeleton until the boat is covered with seal- 

 skins^). In the same figure it can just be noticed, that the bottom 

 is flat, but the frame-work of the bottom is better seen in fig. 82. 



The skin is of the strongest kind and yet so thin and so thor- 

 oughly worked, that the water can be seen through it, when the 

 sunlight falls on the outer side. In moving about in the boat, care 

 ' is taken to avoid stepping on the skin, the feet being placed on the 

 bottom-frames or on the thwarts. 



In earlier times it was not the custom at Ammassalik as now, 

 to groove the long, flat side-beam on the inner surface of the side-ribs 

 (see fig. 81, 2nd plank from below); it was carried through holes 

 bored in these. Nor were the side-ribs fastened, as now, to the 

 bottom planks (side -keels) with nails, but lashed to them with 

 seal-skin straps. 



The fore and aft stem bent at the bottom consists of a single 

 piece of wood of this shape (a branch naturally bent), widening out 

 below almost like a spoon. The broader part below is cut out to 

 fit the ends of the keel-planks. 



') The 6gure shows the skeleton of the boat now preserved in the National Museum 

 in Copeniiagen, covered with skin. .Johan Petersen photographed it at Ammas- 

 salik, before he had it covered and sent to Denmark. 



