HORNS AND TUSKS 307
with
a surprising amount of skill for the production of artistic objects.
The clever Korjak use for their purpose both walrus and mammoth ivory,
mainly the first-named variety, and also sometimes take their material
from the narwhal tusk, or "horn." This preserves its whiteness better
than walrus ivory, which is apt to turn quite yellow after a certain
length of exposure to air and moisture. The ivory carvings executed by
the maritime Korjaks have received high praise for their lifelike
character, notably the figures of wrestlers and drummers produced by
them. Their work in this respect is pronounced to be superior to that
of any other of the Eskimo tribes. Thimbles and rings, as well as
charms, the latter cut from a single piece of ivory, are also made by
them.* It was from this far-away region of northeastern Asia that the
Chinese derived their ku-tu-si, not indeed directly but by way
of Korea, Khitan, and other intervening regions. That walrus ivory was
used by the far-northern tribes of the Pacific coasts at a very remote
period seems to be indicated by a passage in the Chinese "Annals of the
Three Kingdoms," where it is stated that among the articles of tribute
sent in 262 A. D. from the country of the Su-shén were suits of
"bone-armour." This use of bone-armour is only noted in the case of the
tribes of the northern Pacific region, and this type of bone-plate
armour can still be found with the Eskimo and the Chukchi, walrus tusks
having generally furnished the material. Doctor Lauf er draws attention
to the fact that this Chinese record of 262 A. D. is, if correctly
assumed to mean armour made of plates of walrus ivory, the earliest
dated mention of an object manufactured from this substance, t
*Dr. Berthold Laufer, "Arabic and Chinese Trade in Walrus and Narwhal Ivory," Leyden, 1913, p. 33.
tOp. cit., pp. 36, 37; see also Science, Vol.
37, 1913, p. 342, where there is an abstract of an address on "Plate
Armour in America,"delivered by Doctor Laufer before the American
Anthropological Association at Cleveland on January 2, 1913.
