needed. When enough strands had been laid on they were divided into two equal parcels and twisted from the middle into two tight cables, thus greatly increasing the tension to be overcome in drawing the bow. These cables being secured to the handle of the bow, the end of the cord was used to seize the whole securely to the bow. [Footnote N294: See the writer’s paper on the subject of Eskimo bows in the Smithsonian Report for 1884, Part II, pp. 307-316.] [Illustration: FIG. 177.--Boy’s bow from Utkiavwĭñ. 1/8] This seizing and the hitches already mentioned served to incorporate the backing very thoroughly with the bow, thus equalizing the strain and preventing the bow from cracking. This made a very stiff and powerful bow, capable of sending an arrow with great force. We were told by a reliable native that a stone-headed arrow was often driven by one of these bows wholly through a polar bear, “if there was no bone.” Three bows only were obtained: One from Nuwŭk, one from Utkiavwĭñ (a lad’s bow), and one from Sidaru. [Illustration: FIG. 179.--Large bow from Nuwŭk. 1/8] The bow from Utkiavwĭñ, No. 89904 [786] (Fig. 177), though small, is in some respects nearer the type than the other two, and has been selected for description. The body of the bow is a single piece of the heart of a log of spruce driftwood 36¼ inches long, elliptical in section, flattened more on the back than on the belly. It is tapered to the nocks, which are small club-shaped knobs, and narrowed and thickened at the handle. The backing is of round three-ply braid of sinew in one continuous piece. The string is a round four-ply braid with a loop at each end, made by tying a single knot in the standing part, passing the end through this and taking a half hitch with it round the standing part (Fig. 178). The upper loop is a little the larger. [Illustration: FIG. 178.--Loop at end of bowstring. 1/2] No. 89245 [25] (Fig. 179), from Nuwŭk, is a full-sized man’s bow, which is old and has been long in use. It is of the same material, and is 47.3 inches long. Its greatest breadth is 1⅓ inches, and it is 0.8 inch thick at the handle. It is slightly narrowed and thinned off from the broadest part to about 6 inches from each tip, and is then gradually thickened to the nocks and bent up so that the ends make an angle of about 45° with the bow when unstrung. The ends are separate pieces fitted on at the bends. The ends of the body are chamfered off laterally to a wedge which fits into a corresponding notch in the end piece, making a scarf 3¼ inches long, which is strengthened by a curved strap of antler, convex above and thickest in the middle, fitting into the bend on the back. The joint is held together wholly by the backing.