120 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1771. Whooldyah'd Whoie or Pike Lake,^ and not far from 

 ^^3(j" Doo-baunt Whoie River. On the next day we began to cross 

 the above mentioned Lake, but after walking seven miles 

 on it to the West South West, we arrived at a large tent of 

 Northern [78] Indians, who had been living there from the 

 beginning of the Winter, and had found a plentiful subsist- 

 ence by catching deer in a pound. This kind of employment 

 is performed in the following manner : 



When the Indians design to impound deer, they look out 

 for one of the paths in which a number of them have trod, 

 and which is observed to be still frequented by them. When 

 these paths cross a lake, a wide river, or a barren plain, they 

 are found to be much the best for the purpose ; and if the 

 path run through a cluster of woods, capable of affording 

 materials for building the pound, it adds considerably to the 

 commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built by 

 making a strong fence with brushy trees, without observing 

 any degree of regularity, and the work is continued to any 

 extent, according to the pleasure of the builders. I have seen 

 some that were not less than a mile round, and am informed 

 that there are others still more extensive. The door, or 

 entrance of the pound, is not larger than a common gate, 

 and the inside is so crowded with small counter-hedges as 

 very much to resemble a maze ; in every opening of which 

 they set a snare, made with thongs of parchment deer-skins 

 well twisted together, which are amazingly strong. One end 

 of the snare is usually made fast to a growing pole ; but 

 if no one of a sufficient size can be found near the place where 

 the snare is set, a loose pole is substituted in its room, which 

 is always of such size and length that a deer cannot drag 



P The name Whooldyah'd Lake had been appHed to the lake at the source 

 of Dubawnt River, which I explored in the summer of 1893. The lake was 

 known to the Indians of the vicinity as Pelican Lake, and they assured me that 

 there was no lake on the river of the name of Whooldyah'd or Pike Lake. 

 The identification of this lake with the one crossed by Hearne is reasonably, 

 but not perfectly, certain.] 



