198 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS MADE OE STONE. 



ured on Santa Cruz Island, and I translate what he has written concerning 

 it, as follows:* 



" The aboriginal warrior was well aware of the advantage of a straight arrow-shaft 

 over a crooked one, and when, therefore, nature did not provide the desired perfection, 

 ingenuity was resorted to, by which it was attained. The way it was accomplished I 

 learned from living witnesses, and by the many implements found which were used for 

 the purpose of straightening the arrow-shaft. The twigs were cut into the proper 

 length, worked by scraping into the desired thickness, aud were left to dry in the shade. 

 When partially dry such bends and crooked parts which resisted the common practice 

 of straightening were subjected to the action of the arrow-straightener. This utensil 



Fig. 70. 



"Top view of arrow-straightener." 



is made of steatite, a rock that well resists the destructive power of the fire to which 

 it is subjected during the process of straightening the shafts, and retains the heat long. 

 It is usually oval in shape, and slopes toward both ends and sides, and has a fiat base, 

 upon which it rests when in use. Across its ridge passes a groove (sometimes two and 

 even three), corresponding in its width to the thickness of the arrow-shaft, while in 

 depth it varies, often to twice its width, according to the service it rendered, by which 

 the grooves are deepened and its width enlarged. The size varies from the one illus- 

 trated to about 5 inches in length and -i in width. [Which is the size of the one rep- 

 resented by Figs. 69, 70.] Into the groove, of the heated implement the crooked part of 

 the shaft is pressed, and by heating, or steaming, the wood becomes very flexible, and is 

 easily bent and straightened, which position it will retain when cooled off. It is the 

 same principle now employed in the manufacture of furniture, wagon-wheels, etc., of 

 bent wood, brought into almost any shape by the process of steaming." 



In a conversation with Dr. Yarrow regarding these implements he 

 informs me that he has seen similar stones used b}^ the Indians of Southern 



*Archiv fur Anthropologic, vol. vii, page 203 et seq. 



