356 A JOURNEY TO THE 



ably farther. They delight most in rocky and stony [383] 

 places, near the borders of woods ; though many of them 

 brave the coldest Winters on entire barren ground. In 

 Summer they are nearly the colour of our English wild 

 rabbit ; but in Winter assume a most delicate white all over, 

 except the tips of the ears, which are black. They are, when 

 full grown and in good condition, very large, many of them 

 weighing fourteen or fifteen pounds ; and if not too old, are 

 good eating. In Winter they feed on long rye-grass and the 

 tops of dwarf willows, but in Summer eat berries, and different 

 sorts of small herbage. They are frequently killed on the 

 South-side of Churchill River, and several have been known 

 to breed near the settlement at that place. They must 

 multiply very fast, for when we evacuated Prince of Wales's 

 Fort in one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, it was 

 rare to see one of them within twenty or thirty miles of that 

 place ; but at our return, in one thousand seven hundred and 

 eighty-three, we found them in such numbers, that it was 

 common for one man to kill two or three in a day within 

 half a mile of the new settlement. But partly, perhaps, from 

 so many being killed, and partly from the survivors being so 

 frequently disturbed, they have shifted their situation, and are 

 at present as scarce near the settlement as ever. The Northern 

 Indians pursue a singular method in shooting those Hares ; 

 finding by long experience that these animals will not bear a 

 direct approach, when the Indians see a hare sitting, they walk 

 round it in circles, always drawing nearer at every revolution, 

 till by degrees they get within gun-shot. The [384] middle 

 of the day, if it be clear weather, is the best time to kill them 

 in this manner ; for before and after noon, the Sun's altitude 

 being so small, makes a man's shadow so long on the snow, 

 as to frighten the Hare before he can approach near enough 

 to kill it. The same may be said of deer when on open 

 plains, who are frequently more frightened at the long shadow 

 than at the man himself. 



