Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 445 



hunter is always trying to improve upon this part in order to obtain a firm 

 hold on the weapon with the greatest possible ease. 



O. Mason') describes the Greenland types of throwing sticks in the 

 following words: "There is no hook, as in all the other types, to fit the 

 end of the harpoon shaft, but in its stead are two holes one in the front 



end of the shaft groove the other at the distal end of the shaft 



groove. — This last mentioned hole is not cylindrical like the one in 



front, but is so constructed as to allow the shaft-peg to slide off easily. 

 These holes exactly fit two ivory pegs projecting from the harpoon shaft. 



This type of throwing-stick is radically different from all others in 



its adjustment to the pegs on the heav}' harpoon. In all other examples in 

 the world the hook or spur is on the stick and not on the weapon." 



This, however, only applies to the throwing sticks of the Greenland 

 knob harpoon and lance and of the West Greenland feather harpoon. The 

 other Greenland throwing sticks for bird dart and for the Ammassalik 

 feather harpoon are provided with hook or spur in the distal end. 



The device of the throwing-stick, says O. Mason, is the substitute for 

 the bow or the sling, to be used on the kaiak, from which it would be dif- 

 ficult to launch an arrow from a bow. He emphasizes the accuracy in the 

 shooting. "Perhaps no other savage device comes so near in this respect to 

 a gun barrel or the groove of a bow-gun." Further, he praises it for the 

 firm grip it gives and the longer time it allows the hunter to use the power 

 of his arms in driving the weapon forward ^). 



G. Friederici also mentions the throwing stick, but esteems its throwing 

 power and accurac}^ less than those of the bow. He considers it as the 

 more primitive weapon, which we only find in general among people of a 

 low level, or as a relict by the side of the bow among the more civilized. 

 The bow signified an advance Ъу comparison with the throwing stick 2). — 

 I wonder whether this point of view is not opposed to the information 

 archæology gives regarding the occurrence of the bow, but the non-occur- 

 ence of the throwing stick, in the earlier periods! 



General remarks on the larger weapons. New and old feat- 

 ures are found side by side in the Greenland hunting weapons, 

 special to them or common with the Eskimo weapons further west. 



The feather harpoon {West Greenland ernannaq, East Gr. innan- 

 naq) which is characterized by the feather-like bone weights at the 

 butt end of the shaft and the bone device between them used in 

 throwing with the stick, is restricted to Greenland and there even 

 unknown in the northernmost regions. It is evident that albeit it 

 belongs to a general type of the Eskimo harpoon this is a specialized 

 form which has originated in South Greenland. — The knob har- 

 poon (West Greenland unaaq, East Gr. saarqin) is different from the 

 feather harpoon in having a cylindrical bone weight at the end 

 instead of the two bone feathers and another arrangement for the 

 throwing stick; in the main it is only a more original form of the 

 same kind of weapon. 



1) Mason, Throwing sticks in the National Museum fl890) p. 281 and (1890) p. 243. 



2) Mason (1890) pp. 279—280. Handbook of Amer. Indians (1910) p. 746. 

 ^) Friederici, Die Wirkung des Indianerbogens (Globus 1907) p. 327. 



