MOUNT CORMACK REGION 211 



for a short distance, but the "travelling" stag will come very 

 close if the calls are properly made at suitable intervals. By 

 using the double grunt at short range, I have brought a stag to 

 within five yards of the stone behind which I was concealed. 

 Sometimes the Indians can attract an amorous stag by flicking 

 a white handkerchief from side to side at the edge of a wood. 

 The stag can see this at a considerable distance, and will some- 

 times come at full speed to the spot where the Indian lies 

 concealed — I saw this done once in the following year ; and 

 geese can also be called, when they first arrive in the spring, 

 by waving a white rag and imitating their "honking" call, 

 but after the first fortnight they take little notice of the lure. 

 A small white dog is also attractive to geese in the spring, 

 and one Indian I know of has killed numbers of these birds 

 by this method. 



Beavers, when they have been undisturbed for long, 

 are very curious in relation to strange sounds. They will 

 come swimming out of their house even at the firing of a 

 gun. The Indians usually call them with a hissing noise, 

 or one produced by munching the lips. Another favourite 

 " toll " is a sound made by tapping the trousers with the 

 hand. The most successful beaver "caller" in Newfoundland 

 is John Bernard, or Johnny " Bow-an'-arrow " as he is named 

 by the Glenwood folk, who, when the season for the animals 

 was "open," killed great numbers by making a sound that 

 resembled the cutting of chips off a tree. It is said that 

 the unfortunate rodents never fail to respond to this noise. 

 John Bernard is the only Indian in the island who can 

 produce this seductive note. Most of the Indians kill 

 beaver by cutting down the "dam" and shooting the animals 

 as they come out of their "lodge" and holes — an easy 

 method. The Indian has no call for the lynx, but one or 



