[Sledges.]—
The only land conveyance employed at Point Barrow is the universal sledge of the Eskimo, of which there are two forms in general use, one, kă´motĭ, with a high rail on each side, and especially intended for carrying loads of the smaller articles, clothing, camp equipage, etc., and the other (unia) low and flat, without rail or “upstander,” for carrying bulky objects, like whole carcasses of deer, frozen seals, rough dried deerskins, etc., and especially used for carrying the umiak across the land or solid ice. Both kinds are made without nails, but are fastened together by mortises and lashings and stitches of thong and whalebone. I have, however, seen one unia, which was made in 1883, fastened together with nails, a rather inferior substitute for the lashings, as they not only would not hold so firmly, but would also be liable to break in cold weather.
Both kinds of sledge are made of driftwood and shod with strips of whale’s jaw, about three-fourths of an inch thick, fastened on with bone treenails. These bone runners, which are about 2 inches wide, run sufficiently well over ice, hard snow, the frozen gravel of the beach or even on the bare tundra, but for carrying a heavy load over the softer snow of the interior they are shod with ice in a manner peculiar to this region.
It is well known that not only the Eskimo generally, but other hyperborean people coat the runners of their sleds with ice to make them run more smoothly, but this is usually only a comparatively thin crust, produced by pouring water on the runners or applying a mixture of snow or mud and water.[468] Mr. Turner informs me that at Ungava they are particular to use fine black vegetable mold for this purpose.
The method at Point Barrow is quite different from this. To each runner is fitted a heavy shoe of clear ice, as long as the runner, and fully 1 foot high by 6 inches thick. The sledge with these ice runners is estimated to weigh, even when unloaded, upwards of 200 or 300 pounds, but it appears that the smoothness of running more than counterbalances the extra weight. At any rate these shoes are almost universally employed on the sleds which make the long journey from the rivers in the spring with heavy loads of meat, fish, and skins. One native, in 1883, shod his sledges with salt-water ice in this way before starting for the hunting grounds. As these ice shoes are usually put on at the rivers, I had no opportunity of seeing the process, though I have seen the sledges thus shod after their return to the village. Lieut. Ray, who saw the process, describes it as follows:
“From the ice on a pond that is free from fracture they cut the pieces the length of a sled runner, 8 inches thick and 10 inches wide; into these they cut a groove deep enough to receive the sled runner up to the beam; the sled is carefully fitted into the groove, and secured by pouring in water, a little at a time and allowing it to freeze. Great care is taken in this part of the operation, for should the workman apply more than a few drops at a time, the slab of ice would be split and the work all to do over again; after the ice is firmly secured the sled is turned bottom up and the ice-shoe is carefully rounded with a knife, and then smoothed by wetting the naked hand and passing it over the surface until it becomes perfectly glazed.”[469]
Fig. 356.—Railed sledge, diagrammatic (from photograph).
In traveling they take great care of these runners, keeping them smooth and polished, and mending all cracks by pouring in fresh water. They are also careful to shade them from the noonday sun, which at this season of the year is warm enough to loosen the shoes, for this purpose hanging a cloth or skin over the sunny side of the sled.[470]