254 LABRADOR 



At a pinch, one's steeds may be killed and eaten with 

 relish, while the carcass, where meat supplies are scarce, is 

 always of incomparable value. The tongues and kidneys 

 form great delicacies, and the tongues may be smoked for ex- 

 port. A good-sized stag will weigh three hundred pounds, 

 and has for meat alone fetched $50 in the Alaskan markets. 

 The large, thickly haired skin of caribou or of the Lapland 

 reindeer is invaluable for many purposes, for boots, 

 clothing, sleeping-bags, tents, and blankets. These skins 

 need scarcely any preparatory treatment. Dehaired and 

 dressed, they make most satisfactory clothing for use in 

 cold climates. The sleek, dark-brown hair of the early 

 fall affords a very beautiful material for ladies' jackets 

 or motor coats, and picked skins for such purposes should 

 well repay exportation ; two dollars apiece is the present 

 local price for Labrador deer skins. Some of our deer have 

 snow-white skins in winter, and the hair is as thick as a 

 cocoanut fibre mat. 



Moccasins manufactured from the thinner deer skins make 

 the warmest foot-gear known. The heavier stag skins fur- 

 nish admirable light, soft, flexible over-clothes. They are 

 perfectly wind proof, and, when dressed for use, fetch fifty 

 cents to one dollar per pound weight. Stretched, undressed, 

 they are sold by the pound as parchment ; this, cut into 

 strips, is rolled up, and sold as babbage, 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 acquisitions, affording our women all the sewing 



