30 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
give it the requisite elevation or arched shape which has been mentioned. One end of 
each is mortised into the rim of the manhole. 
A single-hole kaiak differing from the above is used along a large extent of Alaskan 
coast, from St. Michael’s southwardly.* This kaiak has the sharp ends characteristic 
of all the skin-covered boats of this region. The forward end gradually tapers from 
below, as well as from the sides, and rises in a graceful, easy curve upwards, the bow 
terminating in a sharp point, above and just back of which is a compressed elevated 
ridge, perforated by an ellipse-shaped hole that varies in size but is usually about 
large enough to receive the hand of a man. The use and purpose of this is obvious, 
since it affords a hand grasp to haul the kaiak out of or into the water. 
This type of canoe has considerable rise to its bottom, and a deck like that of the 
kaiak last described. Indeed, the deck rises in quite a sharp ridge, somewhat resem- 
bling the top of a pitch-roofed house, although the angle is less. It has the same 
hogback sheer that has been noticed in the other kaiak. A kaiak of this type (fig. 1, 
plate ix) in the National Museum is 15 feet long, 2 feet 1 inch wide, and 15 inches 
deep, exclusive of the manhole. There are several modifications of the type last 
described, two of which (figs. 2 and 3) are shown on plate ix. These are propelled 
by a single-bladed paddle, as are all the skin boats of Alaska, excepting those of the 
Aleuts and those of the most northern section. 
14. The Jcaiak of Point Barrow . — The kaiak used by the Innuits at Point Barrow, 
and thence nearly to Cape Prince of Wales,! is very closely allied in form to that made 
by the Eskimo of the Hudson Bay region, particularly at Ungava Bay, but it lacks 
the beautiful sheer and symmetry which characterize the skin kaiaks of the Green- 
lander. 
The frame of the Point Barrow kaiak is made of light pieces of wood, bound 
together by strips of whalebone or sinew. The keelson rests on the ribs instead of upon 
the outside skin, as is the common practice in other kaiaks. It has several battens on 
each side, as in the Aleutian canoe, but the gunwales are wider and not quite so thick 
being 3 inches wide by one-half inch thick, while the battens are three-fourths by one- 
fourth inch. The ribs are half round and of small size, with their ends fastened in to the 
lower edges of the gunwales, and are lashed to the battens. The manhole rim is sup- 
pored by beams, as in other kaiaks, but while the after beam is comparatively straight 
the forward edge of the manhole is elevated considerably, so that, looking at it in profile, 
it sets at a moderate angle with the axis of the boat. The rim is slightly compressed at 
the sides, making the shape of the manhole somewhat elliptical. It is held in this posi- 
tion by a wooden standard or button on each side that is made in a peculiar shape, its 
lower end resting on the top edge of the gunwale, and its upper end so notched that, 
while one part upholds the manhole rim, the extreme point penetrates through the skin 
covering and fits snugly to the outside of the rim, thus preventing the latter from spring- 
ing out of position. The skin deck, instead of passing over the outside of the rim, as 
it does on many of the kaiaks or bidarkas, goes inside, and, turning- over the upper 
edge, is held in place by a wooden hoop driven tightly over the upper edge of the man- 
* Turner says this type is used from St. Michael's southwardly to Kadiak ; Dr. Bean recognized it 
as a form seen at Cook’s Inlet, and Petroff (Alaska, 8th vol., 10th Census, page 134) figures it as the 
kaiak employed hy the beluga hunters on the Kuskokvim. 
t Turner and Murdoch say this type is used from Kotzebue Sound northward ; occasionally it may 
he seen in Norton Sound. (See figs. 1 and 2, plate x.) 
