FAREWELL TO THE CARIBOU 261 



of Eskimo in the central region at 1,100. Of these 

 not more than 300 are hunters. If we allow their de- 

 struction to equal that of the 600 Indians, it is liberal, 

 giving a total of 40,000 Caribou killed by native hunt- 

 ers. As the whites rarely enter the region, this is 

 practically all the destruction by man. The annual 

 increase of 30,000,000 Caribou must be several mil- 

 lions and would so far overbalance the hunter toll 

 that the latter cannot make any permanent difference. 



There is, moreover, good evidence that the native 

 destruction has diminished. As already seen, the 

 tribes which hunt the Barren-Ground Caribou, number 

 less than one-half of what they did 100 years ago. 

 Since then, they have learned to use the rifle, and this, 

 I am assured by all the traders, has lessened the des- 

 truction. By the old method, with the spear in the 

 water, or in the pound trap, one native might kill 100 

 Caribou in one day, during the migrations; but these 

 methods called for woodcraft and were very laborious. 

 The rifle, being much easier, has displaced the spear; 

 but there is a limit to its destruction, especially with 

 cartridges at five cents to seven cents each, and, as 

 already seen, the hunters do not average 20 Caribou 

 each in a year. 



Thus, all the known facts point to a greatly dimin- 

 ished slaughter to-day when compared with that of 100 

 years ago. This, then, is my summary of the Barren- 

 Ground Caribou between the Mackenzie River and 

 Hudson's Bay. They number over 30,000,000, and 

 may be double of that. They are in primitive condi- 

 tions and probably never more numerous than now. 



