Kotzebue Sound to Greenland, indicating that the implement culminated in
Norton Sound. In outline this southern form is thin and straight-sided,
and those in possession are all of hard wood. The back is carved in
ridges to fit the palm of the hand and muscles of the thumb. There is no
thumb-groove, the eccentric index-finger hole of the Northern and
Eastern Eskimo is present in place of the central cavity of the area
from Kotzebue Sound to Cape Vancouver, and there is a slight groove for
the middle finger. Marks 5 and 6 are wanting. The shaft-groove is very
slight, even at its lower extremity, and runs out in a few inches toward
the handle. The hook for the end of the weapon resembles that of
Nunivak, but is more rounded at the point. Of the Eskimo of Prince
William Sound, the extreme southern area of the Eskimo on the Pacific,
Captain Cook says, in the narrative of his last voyage: "Their longer
darts are thrown by means of a piece of wood about a foot long, with a
small groove in the middle which receives the dart. At the bottom is a
hole for the reception of one finger, which enables them to grasp the
piece of wood much firmer and to throw with greater force." Captain
Cook's implement corresponds exactly to the specimens just described and
renders it probable that this thin, parallel-sided, shallow-grooved
throwing-stick, with index-finger hole placed at one side of the
spear-shaft groove, extended all along the southern border of Eskimoland
as far as the Aleuts of Unalashka and Attoo. In addition to the
information furnished by the specimens in hand, Dr. Stejneger describes
a similar stick in use in the island of Attoo. On the contrary, Mr.
Elliott assures me that Aleutian fur-sealers of Pribylov Island use
throwing-sticks precisely similar to those of Norton Sound and Nunivak.

This list might be extended further by reference to authorities, but
that is from the purpose of this article and the series of ethnological
papers commenced in this volume. The most perfect throwing-stick of all