T lk F ' ')) ° “® toiat was dead, with a drag attached to it made of an
Oct.
1827.
inflated seal-skin. It must be extremely difficult for these people,
with their slender means, to capture these enormous animals, and it
must require considerable perseverance. The occupation, however,
appears to be less hazardous than that of killing walrusses, which, by
the devices upon the instruments, occasionally attack the caiacs. The
implements for taking these animals are the same as described by
Captain Parry. Seals are also captured in the manner described by
him. Upon some of the bone implements there are correct representations
of persons creeping along the ice towards their prey, which appears
to have been decoyed by an inflated seal-skin placed near the edge
of the ic e ; an artifice frequently practised by the eastern tribes. These
animals are also taken in very strong nets made of walrus-hide; and
another mode is by harpooning them with a dart about five feet in
length, furnished with a barb, which is disengaged from its socket when
it strikes the animal, and being fastened by a line to the centre of the
staff, the harpoon acts as a drag. This instrument is discharged with a
throwing board, which is easily used, and gives very great additional
force to the dart, and in the hands of a skilful person may be sent to a
considerable distance. The throwing board is mentioned also by Captain
Parry, by Crantz, and others, and corresponds with the womoru of New
Zealand.
AVe noticed in the possession of a party to the northward of
Kotzebue Sound a small ivory instrument, similar to the ktipkuttuk of
the Igloolik tribe.
Birds are likewise struck with darts which resemble the nuguit of
Greenland; they are also caught in whalebone snares, and by having
their flight arrested by a number of balls attached to thongs about two
feet in length : they are sometimes shot with arrows purposely constructed
with blunt heads.
The practice of firing at a mark appears to be one of their amusements
; and judging from what we saw at Chamisso Island, there are
some extraordinary performers in this way among the tribe. One day
a diver was swimming at the distance of thirty yards from the beach,
and a native was offered a reward if he would shoot i t : he fired, but
the bird evaded the arrow by diving. The Esquimaux watched its C H A P ,
coming to the surface, and the instant his head appeared he transfixed
both eyes with his arrow. He was rewarded for his skilfulness, and the
Oct.
1827.
skin was preserved as a specimen of ornithology and of Indian archery.
Generally speaking, however, I do not think they are expert marksmen.
Their bows are shaped differently to those of Igloolik, and are
superior to any on the eastern coast of America; they are, however,
made upon the same principle, with sinews and wedges at the back of
the wood. On the western coast driftwood is so abundant that the
inhabitants have their choice of several trees, and are never obliged to
piece their implements. It requires some care to bring a bow to the form
which they consider best; and for this purpose they wrap it in shavings
soaked in water, and hold it over a fire; it is then pegged down upon
the earth in the form required. I f not attended to when used, the bows
are apt to get out of order, and the string to slip out of its place, by
which the bow bends the wrong way, and is easily broken.
In these bows the string is in contact with about a foot of the wood
at each end, and when used makes a report which would be fatal to
secrecy. The Californians, accustomed to fight in ambush, are very
careful to have that part of the string muffled with fur, but I never saw
any precaution of the kind used by the Esquimaux. To protect the
wrist from the abrasion which would ensue from frequent firing, the
Esquimaux buckle on a piece of ivory, called m u n - e r a , about three or
four inches long, hollowed out to the wrist, or a guard made of several
pieces of ivory or wood fastened together hke an ironholder.
Fishing implements are more numerous and varied with the
AA"estern Esquimaux than with the others, and some are constructed
with much neatness and ingenuity; but I do not know that any of
them require description, except a landing net, and that only because it
is not mentioned by Captain Parry. This consists of a circular frame of
wood or bone, about eight inches in diameter, worked across with whalebone
like the bottoms of cane chairs, and fixed upon a long w'ooden
handle.
Of all their manufactures, that of ivory chains is the most ingenious.
These are cut out of solid pieces of ivory, each link being