CARRYING PACK-LOAD 125 



A pack load is a bundle bound firmly together 

 after the shape of a flour sack, and a half- circle 

 of cord, or leather thong, is formed into a carry- 

 ing strap, so that when the pack is hoisted high 

 on one's back between the shoulders, this cord 

 is slipped over to the forehead, and rests there, and 

 thus sustains the load in position, leaving the 

 hands free to carry your rifle and assist in easing 

 the pressure of the load from time to time. 

 The chief strain you will feel, if you are unused 

 to the pack trail, will be on the back of the neck, 

 for the weight of the load is heavily on your 

 forehead and tends to strain your head back- 

 ward. Of course if your strap, or " tump- line," 

 is of rope, a pad of cloth or grass will be placed 

 between the rope and your forehead to prevent 

 its cutting into the flesh. A made leather tump- 

 line has a broad web where it passes across the 

 forehead. 



Those experiences I have recorded are similar 

 to many that followed during the winter, too 

 numerous to describe in detail. 



In time I had secured, for museum purposes, 

 handsome specimens of the Barren- ground 

 Caribou in winter coat — an adult male, an adult 

 female, and a yearling fawn (male). 



To give an idea of the size of these animals, the 

 male measured forty- eight inches from hoofs to 

 the highest part of back (the haunch), the female 

 forty- two inches, and the fawn thirty- seven 

 inches. In colour the winter coat of the male 

 is : Back, sides, legs, and head, medium dark 

 umber-brown ; fore- shoulders, and entire neck, 

 above and below, dull white ; tail shows white 

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