464 W. Thalbitzer 



others 16 were of the same type as fig. 163 è, с (length 5 to 9 cm.), flat, almost 

 sharp at the one end, thick, almost cylindrical at the other; in each there 

 was a hole likewise opening out to the side and to the end-surface. Further, 

 there were 4 of the flat type fig. 163d, e (length 65 to 8 cm.), with the one 

 end carved into a seal-tail ornament. Here the holes are transverse; on the 

 one side is a single hole of the characteristic form used by the East Green- 

 lander for the countersinking of a knot, an opening of key-hole form. There 

 were also two wooden pegs of a symmetrical shape (fig. 164a and b) with a 

 perforation through the median plane. In addition, there were 5 bone hooks 

 with the form shown in fig. 171 (length 5"5 to 10 cm.), each with a curved 

 hole opening out on the side high up on the body and also on the head- 

 surface. — Lastlj^, the pin figured in fig. 170, of a special form and for a 

 special use. It is a piece of bone for the end of the thong, which binds the 

 paws of the seal together and keeps them close to the body, so that they 

 may not impede the speed when being towed through the water ^). The bone 

 is stuck into the one paw, then the thong is wound round the seal and the 

 other paw and jammed tight I according to explanation inAmdrup's inventory). 



O. Fabricius^) has carefully described the details of the towing 

 apparatus {kaliutit) among the West Greenlanders. It seemed possible 

 to recognise some of them in the pegs found b}' Amdrup. Thus, 

 the pegs represented in fig. 163c? and e would correspond with Fa- 

 bricius' mangivsiut, which belongs to the "chin pieces," connected with 

 a short strap and inserted between the skin and flesh in two in- 

 cisions, the one under the chin of the seal, the other a little further 

 back on the neck. Fig. 164 a and b might belong to the "navel 

 piece," fig. 170 undoubtedly belongs to the "shoulder piece," which 

 is meant to bind the forepaws of the seal close together. But it soon 

 became clear to me that all these pieces are difficult to identify, 

 as the whole towing arrangement at Ammassalik is obviously dif- 

 ferent from that of the west coast. 



Towing straps and drag-handles are used everywhere, naturally, 

 wehere seals are caught, and the forms known from Baffin Land^) 

 resemble approximately those found in Greenland. The Alaskan are 

 more influenced by ornamentation imitative of animals than the East 

 Eskimo forms^). 



The sinkers and fishing lines {aqaleetät, aqatetorleetät, figs. 172 — 

 173) are some characteristic stones often shaped like a fish, with 

 small balls or grains of bone attached which are used to attract the 

 fish towards the beach, or to the stone in the water or hole in the 

 ice, where the hunter stands on the watch with his fishing spear 

 (pp. 53—55). The small pieces of bone are often attached by means of 



') Similar apparatus for wliales in Alaska are described by Murdoch (18!)2 p. 247 



(fig. 2.^0;. 

 '') Fabricius (1810) pp. 172-177. 

 ■■') Boas (1901) pp. 18-19, figs. 13 and 14. 

 *) Nelson (1899) pp. 172-17:5, PI. LXVl. Murdoch (1892) p. 257, fig. 257. 



