326 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
is rolled up, and sold as babiche, out of which all the fillings for snow- 
shoes are made. Of this, also, are made the lashings for our sledges and 
the harness for our dogs. The tough thongs show remarkable elastic 
strength as they ‘‘feel’”’ the jarring and jolting of the rough trails. The 
very tendons that are useless as food are amongst our most valuable acqui- 
sitions, affording our women all the sewing material they need for making 
boots, skin-boats (or kayaks), and clothing. These animal tendons are 
taken and dried, and fetch from ten to fifty cents for each animal. They 
strip easily into single fibres, and these separate threads form a strong 
sewing material, which resists water, and yet, when used in boots in- 
tended to be water-tight, swells up as soon as the boots are immersed in 
moisture. In this way leakage through the needle holes is prevented. 
The tendons do not rot easily, nor do they tear the skin substances, for 
they contract and expand with that material. Even the horns and hoofs 
are valuable, and furnish many of the household essentials of the natives. 
Some of these various manufactured products can be exported to the 
European markets. Reindeer may thus largely increase the earning 
capacity of any region, by converting its unsaleable material into valu- 
able products. The fresh rich milk of the does in the summer has also 
supplied us with what is a vital necessity, and one which was obtainable 
in Labrador in no other way; while the excellent and easily made cheeses 
afford a method of storing the nutriment in a palatable and assimilable 
form without any necessary outlay for a preserving plant. 
Doctor Grenfell consulted Doctor Sheldon Jackson in 
Washington, who had been responsible for the successful 
introduction of the reindeer into Alaska. It was found that 
suitable food occurred in Labrador and Newfoundland, 
where, of course, the native caribou find ample means of 
sustenance. Convinced that a natural means of sustenance 
existed, Doctor Grenfell set to work in 1907 to carry out his 
scheme. He collected a sum of $10,000 by public subscrip- 
tion, and in addition obtained a grant of $5,000 towards the 
work through the Dominion Department of Agriculture. 
It was decided to purchase a herd of 300 reindeer from Nor- 
way and Lapland. Of these 250 were does of an age to 
bear fawns in the following spring, and 50 were stags. In 
addition, a contract for thirty tons of reindeer moss was ar- 
ranged for to serve as feed for the animals en route. It was 
a 
