204 LABRADOR 



subsistence, but not to hunt fur ; nor to accumulate a stock 

 of provisions. 



The number of animals taken yearly depends on their 

 abundance; enough are always left to renew the supply. 

 Usually the land is divided into three parts, which are 

 hunted in rotation from year to year. On the southern 

 slope the beaver is greatly valued, perhaps more for its 

 wonderfully good meat than its fur. The most sustaining 

 foods are beaver and bear. With bread, of course, all the 

 game is sustaining, fish, flesh, and fowl, but the family 

 thrown for weeks or months on rabbits and ptarmigan alone, 

 with perhaps a little fish, weakens in time to the point of 

 danger. The expression " Starve on rabbits'' is well under- 

 stood in the north. 



The beaver is taken, not uncommonly, by " staking," 

 a method which involves the driving of long stakes in a sort 

 of grating over the under-water exits of the beaver, and then 

 easily digging out the imprisoned animals. Bears are 

 found even in midwinter, sometimes by aid of the small 

 dogs, but more often by taking advantage of the bear's 

 habit of returning to the same place for successive winters. 

 Their empty nests are noted in summer and visited at con- 

 venience during the long period of hibernation. 



The keen little dogs referred to are indispensable in the 

 hunting of small game, joining their efforts and senses to 

 those of the family in a marvellous way. In travelling by 

 canoe, they are often put ashore to run the banks, with great 

 effect. An Indian dog, a pole, and a noose are as effective 

 a combination in hunting some of the grouse kind as almost 

 any that can be brought to bear. 



The substantial fish of the country, and valued accord- 



