40 NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 



with his fleet-footed companions is soon left behind, alone 

 in the great snow-covered waste, his only companions the 

 ravens and perhaps a stray fox. They are the gainers, 

 the bad shooting is a boon to them, and what was a tragedy 

 to one becomes a joy to the other. 



Of course the thing is butchery, but that is what it is 

 intended to be. Many of these people never taste fresh 

 meat, except that of the Caribou, so they cannot be blamed 

 for getting what meat is allowed to them by the easiest and 

 surest method. I believe each member of a family old 

 enough to shoot is entitled to his three deer, and as 

 Newfoundland families are quite respectable in size, it may 

 be seen that a goodly supply of meat leaves the wind-swept 

 highlands each winter. These expeditions are regarded 

 somewhat as " larks " and are looked forward to with 

 pleasurable anticipation by the families; but though they 

 may produce great fun, they involve much very hard 

 work, for all the meat must be taken out on sledges, 

 frequently over long distances and through the roughest 

 sort of country. 



Whether the Caribou travel far when they have once run this 

 gauntlet of fire I do not know. They are dull animals 

 during the winter, so probably on reaching the next suitable 

 feeding ground that will satisfy them they stop, even though 

 it be but a few miles away from the battle ground. 

 Occasionally, they are obliged to make forced marches 

 owing to a " glitter " or ice storm, which will imprison all 

 the food, both on the ground and on the trees, in its icy 

 grip throughout a large area, so that it is a question of 

 move or starve. There are wonderful stories of these great 

 treks, when men have declared that " hundreds of thousands " 

 of deer have passed in a single day — one long, unbroken 

 column taking a day, or even two days, to pass a given point. 



