TRIP TO OUR SUMMER HOUSE. 215 



it ascends a tree, they cut the tree down and then soon dispatch 

 the animal. It is a formidable object, when thus on the defensive, 

 for other animals to attack, as to touch it detaches many of the 

 spines which work their way into the flesh causing terrible wounds. 

 It occasionally utters a sort of plaintive cry, and this, with many other 

 circumstances, has won for it, by the whites along the coast, the 

 name of " Indian papoose. " The Indians regard its flesh very 

 highly. One can easily see that it is no small job to skin one of 

 these animals, and that the quills, liable to be lost, afterwards 

 cause serious trouble should they get into the foot or hand. The 

 Indians when they wish to use the quills for fancy work, as they 

 often do, carefully pick them out and arrange them to form 

 mats, or various ornaments of one kind or another; when the 

 flesh is to be eaten they are generally hung up over a flaming fire 

 and singed to the skin, thus burning off all the chaff of the quills. 

 The young are covered with long, black silky hair with whitish ends. 



Friday the nth. This afternoon the snow, melted by the hot 

 sun, having partially disappeared from some of the elevations, 

 we picked a dish of nice, fresh berries for supper. Here the snow 

 covers the red berries and keeps them in a perfectly fresh condi- 

 tion until the ensuing spring when they are picked and eaten in 

 large numbers. They taste very fresh and nice. 



Saturday, March 26. This day, looking to be a fine one, with wind 

 south and a mild thaw, seemed to invite a tramp ; so accordingly, 

 as the men were to carry out a load of wood to the summer house 

 on the island — only about four miles distant — I determined to take 

 my gun and follow them ; the report that a large, white owl had 

 been seen there, helping materially to decide me in the matter. 

 The men started ofl" quite early, directly after breakfast, for the 

 woods, with their dogs and komatiks, to get their load. If the going 

 is bad, or the dogs are obliged to wear their sealskin or canvas, pocket- 

 like shoes, only a light load is put upon the komatik, but if the ice 

 is smooth, and the going ^od, it is an old saying that you can- 

 not ''load a komatik ;" that is, the sled slips along so easily when once 

 it is started that you can pile on all the weight that it will hold, and 



