The Amerinds were so skilful in the use of stone tools that it is related that in the early days of the West they would skin and dress a deer with a stone almost as quickly as a white man could do it with a hunting-knife. For this purpose they would pick up a thin stone and with a few sharp blows from another stone bring it to a cutting edge. Skins were dressed by scrapers of bone or stone to remove superfluous flesh. Pins were used for stretching them on the ground. Among the Eskimo the harpoon reached a high state of perfection, and many of their weapons are beautifully made. Bone, wood, and ivory were utilised for the shaft, and a specially unique one was made from the single horn of the narwhal. Spears or lances were also used for land animals before they had firearms. They are now pretty well supplied with the latest Winchester rifles. The harpoon to-day has a blade of thin iron or steel set into an ivory or bone piece which has a hole through it that retains in place a sealskin thong to which a line is attached. The bottom of the ivory piece has a socket in it that fits on to the lance shaft. When the harpoon strikes an animal’s body the head of it then hangs there on the end of the line, coming loose from the shaft. There are various forms of the harpoon for different animals, and they are also of different sizes according to the weight and strength of the owner. Formerly the blades were of slate, jade, or flint. Floats of sealskin inflated are used to mark the place of a capture, so that carcass and harpoon can be easily recovered. The Eskimo had a wolf-killer that was ingenious. A stout piece of whalebone, about a foot long and half an inch broad, was sharpened at the ends and then frozen in a piece of blubber in a Z shape. The wolf swallowing it, its own heat released the whalebone, which penetrated the sides of the stomach and killed the animal. Each tribe had a varied assortment of implements according to locality and occupation, and it would not be possible even to mention them all in a single chapter, so I shall give only the most important. The bird spear of the Eskimo is a singular weapon. The shaft is laid on a short board fifteen to eighteen inches long, which has a groove to receive the shaft, a handle, and a hole for the first finger. A spike in the shaft prevents slipping, and when the board is hurled forward by a strong wrist motion, the fingers let go the shaft, which, leaving the board, flies forward to the mark with considerable force. These spears are also used by the Aleuts. The Eskimo also use for bird killing six or seven ivory balls, each attached to a string about thirty inches long, the ends of the strings being supplied with tufts of feathers. The balls spread apart in flying through the air and cover a wide space. For war all tribes had clubs and tomahawks. The Mexicans used some with blades of obsidian set in both edges. [Illustration: ESKIMO THROWING-BOARDS FOR DARTS.] [Illustration: ESKIMO BIRD BOLAS.]