508 



SECOND VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 



by pulling on the other end of the line. As soon as the spear has been 

 thrown, and the animal struck, the siatko is thus purposely separated, and 

 being slung by the middle now performs very effectually the important 

 office of a barb, by turning at right angles to the direction in which it has 

 entered the orifice. This device is in its principle superior even to our barb ; 

 for the instant any strain is put upon the line it acts like a toggle, opposing 

 its length to a wound only as wide as its own breadth. 



The dkleak, or akleegd, used for the large seal, has a blown bladder attached 

 to the staff, for the purpose of impeding the animal in the water (18). 

 The weapon with two long parallel prongs of bone or iron, obtained from 

 the natives of the Savage Islands, these people also called akleak, and said 

 it was for killing seals. 



The third and largest weapon is that called katteelik (20), with which the 

 walrus and whale are attacked. The staff of this is not longer, but much 

 stouter than that of the others, especially towards the middle, where there is 

 a small shoulder of ivory securely lashed to it for the thumb to rest against, 

 and thus to give additional force in throwing or thrusting the spear. The 

 ivory point of this weapon is made to fit into a socket at the end of the staff, 

 where it is secured by double thongs (21), in such a manner as steadily to 

 retain its position when a strain is put upon it in the direction of its length, but 

 immediately disengaging itself with a sort of spring, when any lateral strain 

 endangers its breaking. The siatko is always used with this spear ; and to 

 the end of the allek, when the animal pursued is in open water, they attach 

 a whole seal-skin, (hovo-wut-la,) inflated like a bladder, for the purpose of 

 tiring it out in its progress through the water. 



They have a spear called ippoo for killing deer in the water. They de- 

 scribed it as having a light staff and a small head of iron ; but they had none 

 of these so fitted in the winter. The niigute, or dart for birds (19), has, 

 besides its two ivory prongs at the end of the staff, three divergent ones in the 

 middle of it, with several small double barbs upon them turning inwards ; they 

 differ from the nuguit of Greenland *, and that of the Savage Islands, in having 

 these prongs always of unequal lengths. To give additional velocity to the bird- 

 dart, they use a thro wing-stick (noke-shak) which is probably the same as the 

 *' hand-board " figured by Crantz. It consists of a flat board about eighteen 

 inches in length, having a groove to receive the staff, two others and a hole 

 for the fingers and thumb, and a small spike fitted for a hole in the end of the 



Crantz. 



