438 B. R, Ross on the Animals 



quality of this article, which is used by the natives to sew both 

 leather and cloth, to make rabbit snares, and to weave into fishing 

 nets. Sinews can be boiled down into an excellent glue or size. 



In mounting knives and awls with the horns, lead, copper and 

 iron are used for inlaying, and rather handsome articles are some- 

 times produced. The making of spoons, tipping of arrows, and 

 carving of fish hooks requires little explanation nor does the 

 stuffing of dog-collars, and embroidering with the hair need any 

 particular comment, so I shall conclude this imperfect notice of a 

 very valuable animal, what yields food, shelter, and clothing to 

 the savage inhabitants of this remote and dreary portion of the 

 globe. 



Reindeer. — (Rangifer). 



Two species inhabit this District, the Strong-wood (JR. caribou) 

 and the Barren-ground (R. arcticus), which though very nearly 

 allied, are certainly distinct one from the other. 



The Strong-wood Reindeer inhabit the thickly wooded parts of 

 the District, particularly among and in the vicinity of the moun- 

 tain ranges, where they are of very large size. Though smaller 

 than the Moose, these deer are of considerable bulk, and weigh 

 up to 300 lbs. In most particulars they resemble the Barren- 

 ground species, diflfering from it in the following points : — smaller 

 horns, darker color, larger size, not being so gregarious and not 

 migrating. Both species are equally infested with the larvse of a 

 kind of gad-fly, which perforate the skins and cause the animals 

 much pain. These larvse, or others very similar to them, are also 

 found under the mucous membrane at the root of the tongue and 

 in the nostrils, and I have even found them in the brain. The 

 only hides serviceable for converting into leather are those of ani- 

 mals killed early in the winter, which when subjected to a pro- 

 cess, similar to that detailed under the head of Moose, and bleach- 

 ed in the frost instead of being smoked, furnish a most beautiful, 

 even, and white leather which is used for shoe-tops, embroidered 

 with quills and silk. 



The Barren-ground Reindeer during the summer and spring 

 months frequent the barren plains lying between the wooded 

 country and the shores of Hudson's Bay and the Arctic Sea. Their 

 migrations, which are performed with wonderful regularity, are as 

 follows : They leave the shelter of the woods in the end of March 

 and beginning of April, and resort to the plains where they feed 



