436 B. R. Ross on the Animals 



* 



dom, though the natives residing in the vicinity of the Forts often 

 apply to the wives of our servants to tint the quills with imported 

 dye-stuffs. 



The Rabbit. — (^Lepus Americanus). 



This animal, so essential to the welfare of the Chipewyan na- 

 tion, is spread all over the District, except upon the barren-grounds* 

 It is subject to periodical failures, which occur with great regularity, 

 and which cause no small amount of privation and suffering to the 

 Indians, when they happen. When the animals are numerous, 

 the Tinne tribes of the McKenzie valley subsist altogether on 

 them, and the skins furnish almost entirely their winter clothing 

 — robes, shirts, capotes, mittens, and socks being made, which 

 afford a sufficient protection against the most severe cold, though 

 they do not form lasting garments, as the hair falls out very quickly* 



The Moose. — {Alces Americanus). 



Is found, in greater or lesser numbers, throughout the wooded 

 portions of the District. Its food consists of the coarse grass of 

 the swamps, and the shoots of various kinds of willows. It pro- 

 duces from one to two at a birth. In size it is rather larger than 

 a horse, and a buck in its grease will weigh as high as 800 lbs. 

 without the offal. When in good condition the flesh is sweet and 

 tender, and is highly esteemed as an article of food, but should 

 the animal be poor, or have been subjected to violent exertion 

 previously to death, the meat is scarcely eatable. The nose or 

 moufie is considered by some the greatest delicacy of the North- 

 west, contesting the palm with Bear's paw, Beaver tail. Reindeer 

 tongue, Buffalo boss, and Sheep ribs. The Indians sometimes 

 snare the Moose; and in the spring, when the action of the sun 

 has formed a thick crust upon the snow, they drive them into drifts 

 and spear them in numbers. It is not a gregarious animal, and 

 to hunt it requires more skill than is necessary in the pursuit of 

 either Reindeer or Buffalo. In the winter, for some time before 

 the hunter comes on his chase, he removes his snow-shoes, and 

 despite the thermometer many degrees below zero, sometimes 

 takes off his leggins ; he then makes his approach cautiously, cut- 

 ting such twigs of willows as may be in his way, with his teeth, 

 and avoiding when possible, dry brush, and fallen timber. As th^ 

 slightest unusual sound is sufficient to frighten this animal, the 

 chosen period for hunting it is during the continuance of a heavy 

 gale of wind. During the rutting season, which happens in the fall, 



