386 A JOURNEY TO THE 
efteemed than that of the former. They are in | 
feafon all the Winter; and though they general- 
ly feed on the brufh of pine and fir. during that | 
feafon, yet many of the Northern Indians eat the | 
contents of the ftomach. They are feldom fought | 
after in Summer, as in that feafon they are not | 
efteemed good eating; but as the Fall advances | 
they are, by feeding on berries, &c. moft excel. | 
lent. In Spring they fhed their Winter coat, and 
during the Summer are nearly the colour of the — 
Englith wild rabbit, but as the Winter advances 
they become nearly white. In thick weather they | 
are eafily fhot with the gun; but the moft ufual 
method of killing them is by fnares, fet nearly in 
the manner defcribed by Dragge in the Firft Vo- | 
lume of his North Weft Paflage. | 
TheCom- The Common Squirrexs are plentiful in the | 
va 2" woody parts of this country, and are caught by 
the natives in confiderable numbers with fnares, 
while the boys kill many of them with blunt- 
headed arrows. The method of fnaring them is | 
rather curious, though very fimple, as it confifts 
of nothing more than fetting a number of fnares §} 
all round the body of the tree in which they are’) 
feen, and arranging them in fuch a manner that} 
it is fcarcely poffible for the fquirrels to defcend! | 
without being entangled in one of them. ‘This’ 
fmali, and feldom fat, yet they are good eating. 
The beauty and delicacy of this animal induced’ 
me to attempt taming and domefticating fome of | 
| them, 
| 
