Hunting the Barren Ground Caribou. <i9 



channel for a couple of miles reached Sah-kah-tohn-tooh, the Lake of 

 the Bear's Shoulder. This body of water must exceed twenty-five miles 

 in length. 



We did not succeed in overtaking Tenony but encamped near the 

 end of the lake with an Indian, who, with his ten year old son and three 

 miserable ' : giddies " Indian dogs was also in quest of the caribou. 

 He carried a powder horn differing from any that I saw in the North. 

 It was made by boring or burning out a section of the bram of a 

 caribou's antler. He would smilingly beg for tea and tobacco, not 

 becoming in the least disheartened by repeated refusals. I was glad to 

 escape his importunities by leaving camp at 4 a.m. The brisk trot of 

 our well-fed team soon carried us out of reach of the yells of the giddies 

 as the lash was unsparingly applied in his efforts to keep up with the 

 " Mollah " who had such quantities of "lee tea" and " tobah." 



Passing a couple of miles of short portages we reached another 

 large lake called by the Dog Ribs, Quem-tah-Tooh, the Lake of the White 

 Rock, where we found Tenony encamped. 



The Indians had been aroused by their dogs greeting our approach 

 with barks and howls and were huddled behind a roaring fire with their 

 blankets, once white, now a dirty gray, thrown over their shoulders, 

 their hands outstretched toward the welcome blaze while they guarded 

 the few frozen fish which were thawing and burning at their feet. 

 Behind them a confused mass of dog harness, wrappers, and flat sleds 

 formed a barrier to keep out a score or more of giddies which were 

 crowding about the camp and fighting for an advantageous position 

 from which to watch for the few bones that escaped their master's 

 teeth. After " drinking tea " we followed the lake shore toward the 

 northwest where a range of granite hills, called Sah-me-t' ie-kfwa, rose 

 high above the general level of the somewhat rugged country about 

 them. 



When close to the hills we discovered ^a small band of caribou 



toward which the dogs started at their best pace, barking and straining 

 at their collars, and urged to greater exertion by the men who shouted 

 " Ayee ecwoh, m'nitla " (There are the caribou, now, go !). The alarmed 

 caribou were dashing about in all directions yet managing to keep out 

 of range though several shots were fired before they entered the tim- 



