OF THE POLAR SEA. 



243 



The herds of rein-deer are attended in their migrations by bands 

 of wolves, which destroy a great many of them. The Copper 

 Indians kill the rein-deer in the summer with the gun, or taking 

 advantage of a favourable disposition of the ground, they enclose 

 a herd upon a neck of land, and drive them into a lake, where they 

 fall an easy prey ; but in the rutting season and in the spring, when 

 they are numerous on the skirts of the woods, they catch them in 

 snares. The snares are simple nooses, formed in a rope made of 

 twisted sinew, which are placed in the aperture of a slight hedge, 

 constructed of the branches of trees. This hedge is disposed so as 

 to form several winding compartments, and although it is by no 

 means strong, yet the deer seldom attempt to break through it. 

 The herd is led into the labyrinth by two converging rows of poles, 

 and one is generally caught at each of the openings by the noose 

 placed there. The hunter, too, lying in ambush, stabs some of them 



with his bayonet as they pass by, and the whole herd frequently 



becomes his prey. Where wood is scarce, a piece of turf turned up 

 answers the purpose of a pole to conduct them towards the snares. 



The rein-deer has a quick eye, but the hunter by keeping to 

 leeward and using a little caution, may approach very near ; their 

 apprehensions being much more easily roused by the smell than the 

 sight of any unusual object. Indeed their curiosity often causes them 

 to come close up to and wheel around the hunter ; thus affording 

 him a good opportunity of singling out the fattest of the herd, and 

 upon these occasions they often become so confused by the shouts 

 and gestures of their enemy, that they run backwards and forwards 

 with great rapidity, but without the power of making their escape. 



The Copper Indians find by experience that a white dress attracts 

 them most readily, and they often succeed in bringing them within 

 shot, by kneeling and vibrating the gun from side to side, in imi- 

 tation of the motion of a deer's horns when he is in the act of 

 rubbing his head against a stone. 



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