214 A JOURNEY TO THE 



1771. a time, it is wonderful they do not become scarce ; but so far 

 "^"^ ' is this from being the case, that the oldest Northern Indian in 

 all their tribe will affirm that the deer are as plentiful now as 

 they ever have been ; and though they are remarkably scarce 

 some years near Churchill River, yet it is said, and with great 

 probability of truth, that they are [196] more plentiful in other 

 parts of the country than they were formerly. The scarcity 

 or abundance of these animals in different places at the same 

 season is caused, in a great measure, by the winds which 

 prevail for some time before ; for the deer are supposed by the 

 natives to walk always in the direction from which the wind 

 blows, except when they migrate from East to West, or from 

 West to East, in search of the opposite sex, for the purpose of 

 propagating their species. 



It requires the prime part of the skins of from eight to ten 

 deer to make a complete suit of warm clothing for a grown 

 person during the Winter ; all of which should, if possible, be 

 killed in the month of August, or early in September ; for 

 after that time the hair is too long, and at the same time so 

 loose in the pelt, that it will drop off with the slightest 

 injury. 



Beside these skins, which must be in the hair, each person 

 requires several others to be dressed into leather, for stockings 

 and shoes, and light Summer clothing ; several more are also 

 wanted in a parchment state, to make clewla as they call it, or 

 thongs to make netting for their snow-shoes, snares for deer, 

 sewing for their sledges, and, in fact, for every other use where 

 strings or lines of any kind are required : so that each person, 

 on an average, expends, in the course of a year, upwards of 

 twenty deer skins in [197] clothing and other domestic uses, 

 exclusive of tent cloths, bags, and many other things which it 

 is impossible to remember, and unnecessary to enumerate. 



All skins for the above-mentioned purposes are, if possible, 

 procured between the beginning of August and the middle of 

 October ; for when the rutting season is over, and the Winter 



