NOTES ON THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF NEW BRUNSWICK. 
293 
aroused local interest in this work ; and at this time a fine set of 
harpoons was found on the farm of Joseph A. Simpson, Oak Bay, 
Charlotte County. These are the property of Miss Vroom, of St. 
Stephen, and she has very kindly placed them in m 3 7 hands for study. 
When found; these implements were neatly stored in a bone case, 
which was struck and partly split by the ploughshare which turned 
it up. The case (pi. viii, fig. 1) is a moose bone, which after it had 
been stripped of its flesh, and the marrow extracted by its aboriginal 
owner was roughly squared at each end and used as a convenient 
receptacle for the three harpoons. This case is 7f inches long, and at 
its base shows tool marks, indicating a desire on the part of its owner 
to take off the rough edges. Five lateral cuts, which occur near the 
base, may have been marks of identity. When found the opening of 
the case was roughly square-ended, but two triangular pieces have 
since been broken off. 
As I have said, when found, the three harpoons were contained in 
this case, but in withdrawing them for examination one (pi. viii, fig. 4) 
was broken, and the larger portion of it has since been lost. 
Figs. 2 and 3 (pi. viii) represent the only two perfectly preserved 
harpoons that have been found in this province, and differ somewhat 
from others that are known to us. 
In the case of fig. 2, we have a well-formed straight implement 
with eight barbs on one side and a single barb on the other. This 
harpoon is 6 J inches long, and at its widest part measures half an 
inch. The barbs are about one-quarter of an inch apart, with the 
exception of the fourth, which is only one-eighth of an inch above its 
predecessor. 
In fig. 3 we have a simpler implement, six inches long, with a 
single barb on each side, though not exactly opposite each other. A 
channel inches long occurs on the lower part of this harpoon. 
Fragmentary remains of harpoons were found by Dr. G. F. Matthew 
in his excavations at Bocabec, but the specimens found there were 
barbed only on one side. 
These harpoons were employed by the aborigines in the capture of 
fish, and were probably attached to a wooden shaft. We know from 
the records of the early explorers that to the natives of the Passama- 
quoddy region fish were an important article of food, a part of the 
province where indeed they still abound. 
