Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 443 



there is a bone covering, fixed with bone or wooden nails. The 

 intention is to protect the edges of the wood ^). 



A special interest is attached to the holes or notches for the 

 forefinger (arpaa) and the thumb (tikkiwia or terta). Fig. 145 has 

 notches in both edges in the front part of the throwing stick. The 

 deepest notch (in the right edge) is for the forefinger, the other for 

 the thumb. In fig. 146, the throwing stick for the knob harpoon, 

 only a shallow notch is seen for the thumb. Johan Petersen's col- 

 lection, however, contains two interesting, old-time throwing sticks 

 for the knob harpoon and bird dart from x\mmassalik (figs. 147« 

 and b), from which it may be concluded, that the notch for the fore- 

 finger has developed in comparatively recent times, and within Green- 

 land, from the original hole. His own commentary is elucidative: "In 

 the right edge there is an extension and in this a hole for the forefinger 

 (arpaa); on the throwing sticks of the old-time bird darts and har- 

 poons such a hole occurred not rarely." — This feature agrees with 

 what we know of the throwing sticks of the Central and West 

 Eskimo^). I have also found it in old throwing sticks from North- 

 west Greenland (Pfaff' s collection in the Stochholm Riksmuseum). 

 And O. Fabricius mentions, that the throwing stick for the feather 

 harpoon had on the right side a hole for the forefinger, but that 

 others have only a round incision in the edge^). 



The Ammassalik throwing stick of the harpoon and bird dart 

 is fastened on the kaiak by means of a short strap (kalippia) which 

 ends in a bone button (fig. 144 and 147 b; cf. fig. 339) and is fastened 

 on the back of the throwing stick, in front or over its middle; this 

 strap and the button is stuck in under one of the cross-straps on 

 the deck of the kaiak. — In West Greenland, however, either the 

 harpoon shaft itself (like the shaft of the bird dart) has straps at 

 two places (outside of the part corresponding to the place of the 

 throwing stick) and is thus tied to the kaiak at two places; or it 

 does not have straps itself, and in this case there is a strap fixed 

 in the deck of the kaiak to the right of the man-hole, a little in 

 front and out near the gunwale, which is tightened over the har- 

 poon and fixed under a cross-strap. 



^) In two of the throwing sticks described bj^ F. Krause 'from Greenland, it is 

 stated, that "on both sides of the grip are thin bone pieces somewhat tapering 

 which secure a firmer grip" (Sling Contrivances etc. 1905, p. 629). This is prob- 

 ably a misunderstanding. What are seen in his illustration (PI. Ill, 30 b and 

 32 a) are the nails, which have remained in the edge after the bone covering 

 has dropped off. 



^) F. Krause (1805) p. 627. 



3) O. Fabricius (1810) p. 140. 



