ngth, and its
extreme breadth two feet one inch and a half; two feet of its fore
end are out of the water when floating. It differs from the canoe
of Greenland in being somewhat lower at each end, and also in
having a higher rim or gunwale, as it may be termed, round the
circular hole where the man sits, which may make them somewhat
safer at sea. Their construction is, in other respects, much the
same; the timbers or ribs, which are five or six inches apart, as
well as the fore and aft connecting pieces, being of whalebone or
drift-wood, and the skins with which they were covered, those of
the seal and walrus. When the canoes are taken on the shore, they
are carefully placed upon two upright piles or pillars of stones,
four feet high from the ground, in order to allow the air to pass
under to dry them, and prevent their rotting. The paddle is double
and made of fir, the edges of the blade being covered with hard
bone to secure them from wearing.

The spears or darts which they use in killing seals and other sea
animals, consist, like the harpoons of our fishermen, of two
parts, a staff, and the spear itself; the former is usually of
wood, when so scarce and valuable a commodity can be obtained,
from three and a half to five feet in length, and the latter of
bone, about eighteen inches long, sometimes tipped with iron, but
more commonly ground to a blunt point at one end, while the other
fits into a socket in the staff, to which it is firmly secured by
thongs. The lines which they attach to their spears are very
neatly cut out of sealskins, and, when in a state of preparation,
are left to stretch till dry between the tents, and then made up
into coils for use. They make use of a bladder fastened to the end
of the line, in the same manner as the other Esquimaux. Besides
the spears, we purchased an instrument having a rude hook of iron
let into a piece of bone, and secured by thongs to a staff, the
hook being sharply pointed, but not barbed. While we were on the
island (to which I had applied the name of Observation Island), it
happened that a small bird flew near us, when one of the Esquimaux
made a sign of shooting it with a bow and arrow in a manner which
could not be misunderstood. It is remarkable, therefore, that we
could not find about their tents any of these weapons, except a
little one of five or six inches long, the bow being made of
whalebone and the arrow of fir, with a feather at one end and a
blunt point