ESKIMOS 159 
thrown many yards, and entangles itself about the necks or in 
the wings of the ducks. 
As the middle of August approaches, the natives who have 
been living on the coast, and who have generally secured several 
sealskins full of porpoise or seal oil for the next winter's use, 
start inland for the annual deer hunt, only leaving behind the 
old people who cannot tramp long distances. These pick up a 
living during the absence of the younger people, by fishing and 
hunting birds. The barren-ground caribou collect in great 
bands in September for the mating season and for their annual 
migration southward. At this time their skins are in the best 
condition for clothing, and the Eskimos kill them at certain 
localities where they are known to pass on their way south. 
These places are often far away from the summer hunting 
grounds on the coast. Going to the hunting grounds the course 
of some river is generally followed, the men travelling in their 
kyaks, while the women, children and dogs all carry heavy loads 
overland. The early autumn is spent on the deer grounds, and 
'a return to the coast is not made until sufficient snow has fallen 
to allow of the use of the dog sleds. The men first travel light 
to the coast to fetch the sled left there the previous spring. On 
their return the heavy, slow work of hauling out the meat and 
skins commences, and as several loads are often necessary, with 
the days very short and the snow soft, it often happens that 
christmas t arri res before the coast is again reached, and the trip 
for the trading post again undertaken. 
This is a short description of the life of an Eskimo living in 
the northwestern part of the Labrador peninsula, and is typical 
of the life of the free native in the north. Of course, the rou- 
tine varies in different localities. On the west side of Hudson 
bay the Kenipitus live inland, and depend entirely upon the 
caribou for food, clothing and fuel. a large number of these 
natives only leave their hunting grounds for short visits to the 
