were not in the habit of
using them, which may in part be accounted for by their passing so much
of the summer in the interior; they knew very well, however, what they
were, and made some clumsy models of them for our people.

In the weapons used for killing their game there is considerable
variety, according to the animal of which they are in pursuit. The most
simple of these is the _=o=on~ak_, which they use only for killing
the small seal. It consists of a light staff of wood, four feet in
length, having at one end the point of a narwhal's horn, from ten to
eighteen inches long, firmly secured by rivets and wooldings; at the
other end is a smaller and less effective point of the same kind. To
prevent losing the ivory part in case of the wood breaking, a stout
thong runs along the whole length of the wood, each end passing through
a hole in the ivory, and the bight secured in several places to the
staff. In this weapon, as far as it has yet been described, there is
little art or ingenuity displayed; but a considerable degree of both in
an appendage called _si=atk~o_, consisting of a piece of bone three
inches long, and having a point of iron at one end, and at the other end
a small hole or socket to receive the point of the oonak. Through the
middle of this instrument is secured the _=allek_, or line of thong,
of which every man has, when sealing, a couple of coils, each from four
to six fathoms long, hanging at his back.

When a seal is seen, the siatko is taken from a little leathern case, in
which, when out of use, it is carefully enclosed, and attached by its
socket to the point of the spear; in this situation it is retained by
bringing the allek tight down and fastening it round the middle of the
staff by what seamen call a "slippery-hitch," which may instantly be
disengaged 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 _=akl~eak_ or _akl=e=eg~a_, used for the large seal, has a
blown bladder attached to the staff, for the purpose of impeding the
anim