NORTHERN OCEAN 337 



The We-was-kish/ or as some (though improperly) call 

 it, the Waskesse, is quite a different animal from the moose, 

 being by no means so large in size. The horns of the We- 

 was-kish are something similar to those of the common deer, 

 but are not palmated in any part. They stand more up- 

 right, have fewer branches, and want the brow-antler. The 

 head of this animal is so far from being like that of the 

 Moose, that the nose is sharp, like the nose of a sheep : 

 indeed, the whole external appearance of the head is not very 

 unlike that of an ass. The hair is usually of a sandy red ; 

 and they are frequently called by the English who visit 

 the interior parts of the country, red deer. Their flesh is 

 tolerable eating ; but the fat is as hard as tallow, and if eaten 

 as hot as possible, will yet chill in so short a time, that it 

 clogs the teeth, and sticks to the roof of the mouth, in such a 

 manner as to render it very disagreeable. In the Spring of 

 one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, I had thirteen 

 sledge-loads of this meat brought to Cumberland House in 

 one day, and also two of the heads of this animal unskinned, 

 but the horns [361] were chopped off; a proof of their 

 wearing them the whole Winter. They are the most stupid 

 of all the deer kind, and frequently make a shrill whistling, 

 and quivering noise, not very unlike the braying of an ass, 

 which directs the hunter to the very spot where they are. 

 They generally keep in large herds, and when they find 

 plenty of pasture, remain a long time in one place. Those 

 deer are seldom an object of chace with the Indians bordering 

 on Basquiau, except when moose and other game fail. Their 

 skins, when dressed, very much resemble that of the moose, 

 though they are much thinner, and have this peculiar quality, 

 that they will wash as well as shamoy leather ; whereas all the 

 other leathers and pelts dressed by the Indians, if they get 



[^ This is the so-called elk or wapiti, Cervus canadensis Erx., formerly 

 abundant from the west side of Lake Winnipeg north-westward to the Peace 

 River region.] 



Y 



