CHAP. xiv. VALUE OF CARIBOU MOSS. '231 



cattle. I did not hear whether the Labrador Indians 

 made use of this lichen as an article of food, but we 

 often used to chew a few fragments, and found it not 

 unpalatable : when boiled it is slightly bitter and acrid. 

 The reindeer moss forms the softest carpet when moist 

 with rain or dew, but in the heat of the sun it is so dry 

 and crisp, that when walking over it the stems snap off, 

 and the impression of the foot is permanently left. The 

 tracks of caribou made during the night are easily effaced 

 when this lichen is soft and yielding, but if the animal 

 has wandered during the day-time in dry weather, the 

 impression is lasting. The Indians can often determine 

 by this means the time when a caribou has passed a 

 certain spot, by carefully examining the tracks. If the 

 stems are broken, it must have occurred during the day- 

 time, in dry weather ; if they are merely pressed, it may 

 have been recent, but were made during the night, after a 

 shower of rain. 



Next in importance to the caribou moss ranks the 

 tripe de roche (Sticla pulmonaria) throughout the colder 

 parts of the North American continent. It is found in 

 abundance on the trunks of trees, as well as on gneiss rocks, 

 and frequently attains a very great age, probably exceed- 

 ing the number of years allotted to man. Like the well- 

 known Iceland moss, it contains some nutritive principles. 

 It is used medicinally, and appears to be not unfrequently 

 employed by the Indians for cleaning and healing 

 wounds, and in times of scarcity both Nasquapee and 

 ]M/)ntagnais, as well as the Canadian hunters, eat it after 

 being boiled. In order to use it as food, it should be 

 digested for a short time in a weak solution of carbonate 

 of soda, washed, and then boiled ; it yields a jelly which is 



