Double-headed birds and animals figure prominently among the carvings and drawings of the North-west coast tribes, such as the double-headed “thunder-bird,” the double-headed snake, etc. Boas obtained one of the latter among the Kwakiutls which he describes as having a head at each end and a human head in the middle. It is forty-two inches in length and about six inches wide. It is “worn in front of the stomach and secured with cords passing around the waist.” The fabulous animal this affair represents has “the power to assume the shape of a fish. To eat it and even to touch or to see it is sure death, as all the joints of the unfortunate one become dislocated, the head being turned backward. But to those who enjoy supernatural help it may bring power.”[148] These North-west tribes seem to love to carve, and decorate almost everything that will admit of it in this manner. In the vicinity of Fort Rupert there are on the beach a number of rock carvings. These represent faces of sea monsters, and also some of them human faces. [Illustration: KWAKIUTL CARVING, N. W. COAST] [Illustration: ESKIMO CARVED IVORY DRUM-HANDLES.] Amongst the Eskimos carving is limited, generally, to a sort of engraving on bone and ivory, except in the matter of masks, which are rudely shaped out of wood without any of the elaborate finish that is observed in the work of Amerinds farther south. The wood they have had to work with is not the kind that promotes carving, and ivory is a rather difficult material to shape. Nevertheless, they occasionally, form some attractive little heads from it, to adorn the end of a harpoon line or something of that sort. They also shape their drill bows and other implements to some extent and decorate them with neat engraving. Some of these decorations are very pleasing, and exhibit the same taste for symmetrical ornamentation that is found throughout the continent. When they attempt to represent form they are generally successful in giving it the proper character with less of the childish grotesqueness that is seen in most Amerind work. How much the long intercourse with Europeans on whalers has modified the art efforts of the Eskimo it is not possible to judge. Murdoch[149] gives illustrations of seals and whales shaped by the Point Barrow Eskimo, but aside from the _character_ of the animal being generally fairly well rendered, there is little that is artistically interesting in the work. What I mean by character is that you can generally tell what is intended by an Eskimo carving, which is not always the case with the sculptured efforts of other Amerinds, though the finish may be better. Boas gives illustrations of the carved work of the Central Eskimo,[150] which show the same characteristics as the Western.