478 
THE IMPLEMENTS 
nearly in the centre of the little vessel, sometimes a 
few inches toward the stern. It is circular or nearly 
so, wide enough to let the kayacker squeeze his hips 
through it, and no more. It has a rim or lip, secured 
upon the gunwale, and rising a couple of inches above 
the deck, so as to permit the navigator to bind it wa- 
ter-tight around his person. Immediately in front of 
him is his as-say-leut, or line stand, surmounted by a 
reel, with the sealing-line snugly coiled about it, and 
revolving on its centre with the slightest touch. He 
has his harpoon and his lances strapped at his side ; 
his rifle, if he owns one, stowed away securely be- 
tween decks. 
Just behind the kayacker rests his bladder-float or 
air-bag, an air-tight sack of 
seal-skin, always kept inflat- 
ed, and fastened to the sealing- 
line. It performs the double 
office of a buoy, and a break 
or drag to retard the motion of the prey after it is 
struck. 
The harpoon, or principal lance (unahk), is also at- 
tached to the sealing-line. It is a most ingenious de- 
vice. The rod or staff is divided at right angles in 
two pieces, which 
are neatly jointed 
or hinged with ten- 
don strips, but so braced by the manner in which the 
tendon is made to cross and bind in the lashing, that, 
except when the two parts are severed by lateral press- 
ure, they form but a single shaft. The point, gener- 
8 In. 
