The Cumberland Gulf type is the clumsiest throwing-stick in the Museum,
and Dr. Franz Boas recognizes it as a faithful sample of those in use
throughout Baffin Land (Fig. 4).
In general style it resembles Mr. Turner's specimens from Ungava; but
every part is coarser and heavier. It is made of oak, probably obtained
from a whaling vessel. Instead of the fiddle-head at the distal end we
have a declined and thickened prolongation of the stick without
ornament. There is no distinct handle, but provision is made for the
thumb by a deep, sloping groove; for the index-finger by a perforation,
and for the other three fingers by separate grooves. These give a
splendid grip for the hunter, but the extraordinary width of the handle
is certainly a disadvantage. There are two longitudinal grooves on the
upper face; the principal one is squared to receive the rectangular
shaft of the bird spear; the other is chipped out for the tips of the
fingers, which do not reach across to the harpoon shaft, owing to the
clumsy width of the throwing-stick. In this example, the hook for the
end of the bird-spear shaft is the canine tooth of some animal driven
into the wood at the distal end of the long-shaft groove.