Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 483 



and smooth it by means of this apparatus. Such thongs are of 

 great use to them, for harpoon lines, towing lines, sledge traces, 

 whip lashes, lashings for their sledges, boats and tents and several 

 other objects. 



Iron in implements from the "dead house" at Nualik. — 

 Without being wholly necesssary, iron has been obtainable and pre- 

 ferred for many implements or parts of implements. The material 

 used was obtained as pieces of hoop iron, iron nails or awls, 

 crescent-shaped ulo blades, long weapon heads (iron rods circular 

 in section) for lance and bird dart, or other objects of European 

 manufacture. In the Amdrup collection we find a file (used as a 

 borer), two saws and a couple of wrenches (made into knife blades?). 

 One of the two flat, heavy pieces composing the iron pick (fig. 201) 

 bears on the one side the stamp of a trade mark. Most of these 

 things must have reached up to this far-off place through journeys 

 or trading connections in the years just preceding the arrival of the 

 Europeans (cf. pp. 112—113 and 333—335). 



A special pleasure has been taken in riveting parts of bone 

 objects together with iron nails. See, for example, the harpoon head 

 made of two pieces of bone of the bear, which has been set together 

 by means of four rivets, fig. 135 e. Alongside this is a harpoon head 

 (fig. 135 c?), the lowermost part of which has been strengthened by a 

 transverse iron band, riveted on with four nails; the band is want- 

 ing but the holes can be seen. Similar bands are found on many 

 of the harpoon heads brought home by Holm from Ammassalik 

 (figs. 131 e—h). This is a relict of an old custom. At times and 

 places, where the Eskimo did not have access to hoop iron, they 

 were accustomed to strengthen the lowermost part of the harpoon 

 head by means of sinew threads or a thong lashing; often the basal 

 socket was even open on the side, the bone being broken, and the 

 lashing was then led through two holes in the edges to replace the 

 side wanting of the socket. The iron band is a substitute for the 

 lashing. — In many of the harpoon heads iron is also used to 

 strengthen the point itself, an iron blade being inserted in a slit in 

 the fore end of the head in which it is always fixed by means of 

 a transverse iron nail. The form of the iron blade is a copy of the 

 blade part of the flat harpoon head, which was originally of bone 

 all in one piece (figs. 135c, d, f, compared with a and b). 



Iron rivets are also used on one of the whips (fig. 75 b) for 

 riveting the iron-pick, which is made of two pieces of hoop iron 

 joined together, on several loose shafts of harpoons (fig. 119a) which 

 are made up of two pieces of bone, on many harpoon heads and 



31* 



