<c visits the polar regions at the latter end of May or the early part of June, and
remains until late in September. On his first arrival, he is thin, and his flesh is
tasteless, but the short summer is sufficient to fatten him to two or three inches on
the haunches. When feeding on the level ground, an Esquimaux makes no
attempt to approach him, but should a few rocks be near, the wary hunter feels
secure of his prey. Behind one of these he cautiously creeps, and having laid
himself very close, with his bow and arrow before him, imitates the bellow of the
deer when calling to each other. Sometimes, for more complete deception, the
hunter wears his deer skin coat and hood so drawn over his head, as to resemble,
in a great measure, the unsuspecting animals he is enticing. Though the bellow
proves a considerable attraction, yet if a man has great patience he may do
without it, and may be equally certain that his prey will ultimately come to
examine him ; the rein-deer being an inquisitive animal, and at the same time so
silly, that if he sees any suspicious object which is not actually chasing him, he
will gradually, and after many caperings, and forming repeated circles, approach
nearer and nearer to it. The Esquimaux rarely shoot until the creature is within
twelve paces, and I have frequently been told of their being killed at a much
shorter distance. It is to be observed that [the hunters never appear openly, but
employ stratagem for their purpose; thus, by patience and ingenuity, rendering
their rudely-formed hows, and still worse arrows, as effective as the rifles of
Europeans. When two men hunt in company, they sometimes purposely shew
themselves to the deer, and when his attention is fully engaged, walk slowly
away from him, one before the other. The deer follows, and when the hunters
arrive near a stone, the foremost drops behind it and prepares his bow, while his
companion continues walking steadily forward. This latter, the deer still follows
unsuspectingly, and thus passes near the concealed man, who takes a deliberate
aim and kills the animal. When the deer assemble in herds, there are particular
passes which they invariably take, and on being driven to them are killed by
arrows by the men, while the women, with shouts, drive them to the water.
Here they swim with the ease and activity of water-dogs, the people in kayaks
chasing and easily spearing them ; the carcasses float, and the hunter then
presses forward and kills as many as he finds in his track. No springs or traps
are used in the capture of these animals, as is practised to the southward, in
consequence of the total absence of standing wood.” The caribou entirely quit
the districts which Captain Lyon visited, in the winter; but the Esquimaux who
inhabit the coast of the Welcome, to the southward of Chesterfield inlet, have
an opportunity, by the animals continuing in their country, of shewing their
ingenuity in the construction of deer-traps, of their convenient and elegant
building material, compact snow. The sides of the trap are built of slabs of
that substance, cut as if for a snow-house ; an inclined plane of snow leads to
the entrance of the pit, which is about five feet deep, and of sufficient dimensions
to contain two or three large deer. The pit is covered with a large,
thin slab of snow, which the animal is enticed to tread upon by a quantity
of the lichens on which it feeds being placed conspicuously on an eminence
beyond the opening. The exterior of the trap is banked up with snow so as to
resemble a natural hillock, and care is taken to render it so steep on all sides but
one, that the deer must pass over the mouth of the trap before it can reach the
bait. The slab is sufficiently strong to bear the weight of a deer until it has
'passed its middle, when it revolves on two short axles of wood, precipitates the
deer into the trap, and returns to its place again in consequence of the lower end
being heavier than- the other. Throughout the whole line of coast frequented by
the Esquimaux, it is customary to see long lines of stones set on an end, or of turfs
piled up at intervals of about twenty yards, for the purpose of leading the caribou
to stations where they can be more easily approached. The natives find by
experience that the animals, in feeding, imperceptibly take the line of direction
of the objects thus placed before them, and the hunter can approach a herd
that he sees from a distance, by gradually crawling from stone to stone, and
remaining motionless when he sees any of the animals looking towards him. The
whole of the Barren-Grounds are intersected by caribou paths, like sheep tracks,
which are of service to travellers at times in leading them to convenient crossing
places of lakes or rivers.
Hearne gives the following account of the deer pound in use amongst the
Chepewyans :—
“ When the Indians design to impound deer, they look out for one of the
paths in which a number of them have trod, and which is observed to be still
frequented by them. When these paths cross a lake, a wide river, or a barren
plain, they are found to be much the best for the purpose ; and if the path run
through a cluster of woods, capable of affording materials for building the pound,
it adds considerably to the commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built
by making a strong fence with brushy trees, without observing any degree of
regularity, and the work is continued to any extent, according to the pleasure of
the builders. I have seen some that were not less than a mile round, and am
informed that there are others still more extensive. The door or entrance of the
pound is not larger than a common gate, and the inside is so crowded with small
counter-hedges as very much to resemble a maze, in every opening of which