THE REIN-DEER. 329 



sal muscles are split into fine and excellent sewing 

 thread." 



To the Canadian voyager the venison is an important 

 article. By the natives the whole animal almost is con- 

 sumed, every part of the interior being eaten ; but it is 

 from a mixture of the meat and fat of this animal, that the 

 composition named pemmican is made. If kept dry, it 

 may be preserved for three or four years, and, containing 

 much nourishment in small bulk, is well fitted for exten- 

 sive journeys, as has already been proved by its utility in 

 the arduous arctic expeditions of our countrymen. Another 

 mixture of pounded deer's meat and fish, or fish-roe, is 

 made, which is either eaten raw, or made into soup ; it is 

 called Thucchawgan. 



Excellent and appropriate winter dresses are also made 

 of the skins, by both natives and Europeans, which ex- 

 clude the cold in a way hardly to be credited. This, how- 

 ever, will be better exemplified when we notice the Rein- 

 deer of Lapland. 



To the European the gun is an indispensable accompa- 

 niment of the chase ; but for the native tribes, necessity 

 has been fertile in expedients to kill or capture them. 

 They are said to be the most easy of approach of all the 

 North American deer ; and a single family of Indians will 

 sometimes destroy two or three hundred in a few weeks. 

 They are taken by snares, or shot with the bow and arrow, 

 being approached by stealth, or driven into the passes, 

 where an ambuscade lies in wait for them ; or, as they 

 freely take to the waters of rivers and lakes, they are easily 

 overtaken in the canoes, and speared. The Esquimaux 

 also shoot them with arrows, and exhibit great patience in 

 waylaying their prey. They are so inquisitive as to ex- 

 amine any object with which they are unaccustomed ; arid 

 to this the hunter trusts ; or, creeping behind any object of 

 partial concealment, he imitates the bellow of the animal, 

 having his deer-skin coat and hood down over his head. 



