NOTES ON THE REINDEER OF NEWFOUNDLAND. 



277 



dedagan " * (fig. 96) or of a " Jeegegan " t (fig. 97) ; the hair is next shaved off, 

 and the bared skin is placed, for about twelve hours, in tan-liquor, made either 



Fig. 96. 



Sketch of a Saskadedagan used in dressing skins. Half the original size. 



Fig. 97. 



Sketch of a Jeegegan or Skin-scraper. Reduced. 



The middle portion of the bone has been cut down and hollowed out, with the sides cut into sharp edges. 

 One end of this specimen was enwrapped with pieces of cloth or other stuff. 



from the bark of the "Var " (Abies balsamifera), or from that of the Black or the 

 White Spruce (A. nigra, A. alba), or the White Birch (Betula papyracea) ; but 

 the first is preferred : after this it is ready for use. 



The sinews used for sewing are cut from each side of the backbone. They 

 are prepared by being drawn out, one by one, with the teeth, and, when dried, 

 rolled between the palm of the hand and thigh, at the same time being softened 

 by being passed through the lips. 



The skin, hoofs, and sinews having been cut away from the shank of the Deer, 



* The Saskadedagan, an instrument in general use amongst the Montagnards of Labrador, is used in the 

 following manner. A fold of the skin being seized by the left hand, the tool is taken round the middle in 

 the right hand, and by a succession of downward strokes the vellum is separated from the skin. The 

 Jeegegan is worked by scraping, with a movement of the arms, the skin which is laid across an inclined 

 post stuck in the ground. 



t An instrument of this kind is in the CHEISTT COLLECTION. 



