Towards the opposite end of the arrow are two
feathers, generally of the spotted oval, not very neatly lashed on. The
bowstring consists of from twelve to eighteen small lines of three-sinew
sinnet, having a loose twist, and with a separate becket of the same
size for going over the knobs at the end of the bow.
We tried their skill in archery by getting them to shoot at a mark for a
prize, though with bows in extremely bad order on account of the frost,
and their hands very cold. The mark was two of their spears stuck
upright in the snow, their breadth being three inches and a half. At
twenty yards they struck this every time; at thirty, sent the arrows
always within an inch or two of it; and at forty or fifty yards, I
should think, would generally hit a fawn if the animal stood still.
These weapons are perhaps sufficient to inflict a mortal wound at
something more than that distance, for which, however, a strong arm
would be required. The animals which they kill with the bow and arrow
for their subsistence are principally the musk-ox and deer, and less
frequently the bear, wolf, fox, hare, and some of the smaller animals.
The reindeer are killed by the Esquimaux in great abundance in the
summer season, partly by driving them from islands or narrow necks of
land into the sea, and then spearing them from their canoes; and partly
by shooting them from behind heaps of stones raised for the purpose of
watching them, and imitating their peculiar bellow or grunt.
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