ESKIMO BOWS. 315 



They have, as it were, lengthened the ends of the bow beyond (be origi- 

 nal backing, bent them op, and added extra cables across the bends. 



On the mainland of Siberia, where the natives are in direct communi- 

 cation both with Saint Lawrence Island and the arctic shores of the 

 New World, by way of the Diomedes, the bow is of a pattern inter- 

 mediate between the types of these two regions, partaking more of the 

 characteristics of one or the other, according to the fancy of the maker, 

 perhaps as his dealings have brought him in contact with people of one 

 or the other region. 



There is one bow in the Museum, not an Eskimo bow, which is inter- 

 esting in the present connection. It comes from Sitka, where the In- 

 dians use a plain spruce or cedar bow with a round back and flat belly. 

 The bow in question is of the same shape as the other bows from the 

 same locality, but the maker, who has evidently had some acquaint- 

 ance with the handiwork of the nearest Eskimos, has tried to improve 

 it by putting on a typical "southern" backing of sinew. This, how- 

 ever, is of but little use, as the round back of the bow is not of the 

 proper shape to receive it, and, in spite of the lashing round the handle, 

 it slips off to one side as soon as the bow is bent. I may remark that 

 the bow appears to be new and never to have been used. 



Note. — It should be borne in mind that what I have said about the 

 geographical distribution of the different forms of bow refers not to the 

 present time, but to the period when this weapon was in general use 

 among the Eskimos of the Northwest. Most of the material in the 

 Museum collection was either collected many years ago or shows signs 

 of having been old and disused when collected. 



Fire-arms have so completely superseded the older weapon, especially 

 at the great trading centers like Saint Michael's, that even in distant lo- 

 calities, like Point Barrow, it would be difficult to find half a dozen full- 

 sized bows fit for service. The boys still adhere to the bow for shoot- 

 ing small birds, &c, and for them it is still made as carefully as ever. 



Note on the Sinew-Twisting Tools. — In the above paper, I have 

 had occasion to speak of the toggles or levers used in twisting up the 

 cords of sinew on the back of the bow, making what I have called 

 "cables." These are little flat rods of ivory or hard bone (Fig. 27, No. 

 894GG, front and side view, from Poiut Barrow, collected by our expe- 

 dition), about four or five inches long, with the ends slightly bent in op- 

 posite directions. These rods serve a double purpose at Point Barrow, 

 for the natives use them for playing a game something of the nature 

 of u pitch-penny." We purchased a number of them under the impres- 

 sion that this was their only use, audit was not until we had been a long 

 time at the station that we were told that two of them made a set and 

 that they were used, somehow, in twisting the sinews on the back of 

 the bow. So few bows are now made that we had no opportunity of 

 seeing them in use. 



