46

JADE a

The man’s knife, as a weapon of war
and for hunting purposes, was generally
of flint or slate (pl. xvz). It consisted
of a short blade set in a wooden or a bone
handle, but when of nephrite the length of
blade was usually much greater, reaching
eight inches. Of war knives, possibly the
finest specimen, now in the National
Museum, was collected by Nelson in Nor-
ton sound. It is a leaf-shaped blade,
83 in. long by 2% in. wide, and is made of
a beautiful, bright, translucent, green
jade, slightly grooved near each edge, and
strengthened by an increase in the thick-

ness down the middle. It is pegged to a
short ivory handle, and as it has a double
edge, it was more of a weapon than a
hunting knife.

The two hunting knives in the writer’s
possession are interesting examples. The
larger one (pl. xvi, 6) is of a beautiful,
gray-green, translucent jade, 73 in. long
and 23 in. wide, with a slightly raised
strengthening ridge extending down the
middle of each side. It is broad, leaf-

INDIAN NOTES