THE WHITE WORLD 



if he be to the windward of him, is no idle pastime. When 

 a caribou is finally sighted, after perhaps a long and tire- 

 some tramp, the Eskimo, in order to get within rifle range, 

 must run the caribou down. This may seem incredible, 

 but it is nevertheless true. When the caribou first sees the 

 hunter approach he starts up and runs a short distance and 

 then resumes his feeding by pawing the hard-crusted snow 

 off the moss which furnishes his sustenance; but seeing 

 the Eskimo in a dog-like trot still pursuing him, he again 

 starts up and runs a short distance and again resumes his 

 feeding. Each succeeding time that he starts and runs he 

 shows signs of increased uneasiness, and finally, in order 

 to find out what kind of a being his pursuer is, he will 

 swing around towards the leeward to take his scent. See- 

 ing the caribou veer from his course, the hunter will alter 

 his own course so as to head the deer off and keep to the 

 leeward of him, and in this way get within long rifle range 

 and open fire. 



Fish and caribou, the luxuries of the Eskimo spring diet, 

 when taken under such conditions, are dearly earned and 

 ought to be cached and apportioned during the year in 

 homeopathic measure, as entrees to the regular diet of seal 

 meat. But arctic hunger is not cognizant of any future 

 want. As an illustration of the eating capacity of the 

 Eskimo, I would relate the following. Ten hunters with 

 their families or assistants, numbering all told 30 souls, 

 have been known to take during the short hunting season 

 200 caribou and 2000 pounds of fish. They were absent 

 from the coast on this hunting and fishing tour two and 

 one-half months. Upon their return to the coast an in- 

 ventory of what remained of the " output " showed but 30 

 caribou and 500 pounds of fish, and they had left nothing 

 cached in the interior. These 30 Eskimo, therefore, con- 

 sumed within two and one-half months 170 caribou, which 

 amounted, when dressed, to about 17,000 pounds, and 1500 

 pounds of fish, or a total of 18,500 pounds of meat. This 

 gives an average per man of 246^3 pounds per month, or 

 Sj pounds per day. This average may seem excessively 

 high and may tax one's credulity, but there must be taken 

 into account the facts that the diet was purely an animal 

 diet, that during these months about the coldest weather of 



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