Bows and arrows are also employed by the Esquimaux. The former are made of horn, bone, or wood, and are almost always composed of several pieces lashed firmly together. As is the case with the bows of the North American tribes, the chief strength is obtained, not so much from the material of the bow, as from a vast number of sinew strings which run down its back. There are often a hundred or more of these sinews, which are put on sufficiently tight to give the bow a slight curvature against the string. The shape of the bow is rather peculiar. And though the weapon is so powerful, it is seldom used at a greater distance than twelve, or at most twenty yards. The length of the bow is on an average three feet six inches.
The arrows are extremely variable. Some have wooden shafts tipped with bone, but the shafts of the best specimens are half bone and half wood, and the points are armed with a little piece of iron. The arrows are contained in a quiver, and the bow is kept in a case. This quiver and bow-case are generally made of seal skin, as being impervious to wet, though they are frequently made of other materials. My own specimen is formed from the hide of the reindeer. When the Esquimaux shoots, he always holds his bow horizontally. The bow-string is made of some fifteen or twenty sinew strings, which are loosely twisted, but not made into a cord.
The bow and arrows are chiefly used in the capture of the reindeer and in shooting rabbits, birds, and other small game. The mode of deer hunting is very ingenious. When the hunter sees some deer feeding on the level plain, he takes his bow and arrows, draws his hood well over his head, and creeps as close as he can to the spot where the deer are reposing. Here he begins to bellow in imitation of the cry with which the deer call each other, and thus attracts the animals within the short distance at which an Esquimaux archer shoots.
Even if he should not use the bellowing call, he has only to lie patiently on the ground to be sure that, sooner or later, some of the deer will come and look at him. They are most inquisitive animals, and when they see any strange object, they cannot resist satisfying their curiosity by inspecting it. Providing the object of their curiosity does not move after them, they approach in a series of circles which they gradually narrow, capering and tossing their heads capriciously, and at last will come within a yard or two of the motionless hunter, and so fall a victim to the arrow which he has already fitted to his bow.
Sometimes the deer hunters adopt an ingenious ruse. Two of them walk near the deer, and purposely show themselves. When the animals’ attention is fixed upon them, they walk slowly away, knowing that the innate curiosity of the deer will induce them to follow. They direct their course past some stone or similar object, when one of them quickly steps behind it, while the other walks onward as before. The deer do not notice that one of the men has disappeared, and so follow the other, thus coming within a yard or two of the deadly arrow.
The arrow is also used for shooting birds, which are always killed when sitting. The arctic grouse are killed in great numbers by the arrow. They pack closely together, so that an arrow shot at random among them can scarcely avoid hitting one of them; and the birds are so apathetic that, when the missile falls among them, they only fly a few yards further and then settle, so that the hunter can pick up his arrow and shoot it at them again, until he has shot the greater number of the covey.
In order to save the wrist from the recoil of the bow-string, the Esquimaux wears a very ingenious guard, composed of several pieces of bone tied together and fastened on the wrist by a bone button and loop. The pieces of bone are about four inches in length. Below the [wrist-guard], which is shown on the 1353d page, some curiously formed hooks are represented. No bait is required with them. They are simply moved up and down in the water so as to attract the attention of the fish, and then are jerked sharply upward, so as to catch the fish on one of the projecting points. There are many varieties of this curious hook, but those which are illustrated are the most characteristic.
There is also an instrument called the kakeeway, or little nippers, which is used in a similar manner by the Esquimaux boys. They take a model of a fish made of ivory, tie a string to it, and troll it about in the water in order to attract the fish, when they are struck with the kakeeway, and hauled out of the water. The artificial fish are about three inches long, and are very neatly made, with eyes of iron pyrites. This is a very slow process of fish catching, but the boys, to whom time is of no object, are very fond of it, and will sit on their heels all day for the chance of catching two or three little fish.
The foxes and wolves are generally taken in traps. There are several kinds of traps, but they are mostly made on one or the other of two principles. The usual trap is very like a common mouse trap, except that it is made of ice instead of wood. It is so long and narrow that a wolf cannot turn himself in it, but, if he wishes to retreat, must do so backward. The door is a heavy slab of ice, which moves up and down in two grooves. The door being raised, it is held in position by a line which passes over the top of the trap, through a hole at the end, and is then slightly hitched over a peg. A bait is then attached to the end of the line, and when the wolf pulls it, the door is released, and effectually secures the animal in the icy prison. A hole is then made in the side of the trap, and the wolf is speared where he lies.
Foxes are also taken in these traps, but the usual kind of fox trap is made on a different plan. It is built in a form somewhat resembling a lime-kiln, and the aperture is covered with a piece of whalebone, along which the animal must walk to get at the bait. As it steps on the whalebone, the elastic material gives way, lets the fox into the trap, and then resumes its former position, ready for another victim.