174 THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 



trunks the logs are selected to form the material from which the walls 

 of all the buildiugs at that place are constructed. 



The alders, willows, and a few other bushes attain a gi'eater or less 

 size, depending upon the situation and amount of protection afforded. 

 I have seen as large stems of these shrubs growing within a mile of 

 Fort Chimo as I have seen at either Davis inlet or Eigolet. 



The flowering plants are sparsely scattered over the northern areas, 

 and then only in most suitable soils. The ground remains frozen from 

 the last of October — earher some seasons — to the last of May, or even 

 into the middle of June. The appearance of the annuals is sudden, 

 and they rapidly attain their full size and quickly fall before the chill- 

 ing winds of autumn. 



ANIMAL LIFE. 

 MAMMALS. 



The marine mammals alone appear to be well known, but the number 

 of cetaceans can certainly be increased above the number usually re- 

 ported inhabiting the waters immediately bordering upon the region. 



The phocids are best known for the reason that oft the shores of 

 southeast Labrador the pursuit of species of this family is can-ied on 

 each spring to an extent probably surpassing that anjrwhere else on the 

 face of the globe. 



At the mouth of Little Whale river, the white whale is taken to the 

 number of 500 each year, although the ca]>ture is steadily decreasing. 

 The Indians here do the greater part of the labor of ch'iving, killing, 

 flaying, and preserving them. At Fort Chimo another station for the 

 pursuit of white whales is carried on. Here the Eskimo do the driving 

 and killing, while the Indians perform the labor of removing the blub- 

 ber and rendering it fit for the oil tanks into which it is placed to put 

 it beyond the action of the weather. The skin of the white whale is 

 tanned and converted into a leather of i-emarkably good quality, espe- 

 cially noted for being nearly waterproof. 



Of the land mammals, the reindeer is pi'obably the most abundant 

 of all. It is found in immense numbers in certain localities, and forms 

 for many of the inhabitants the princi])al source of subsistence, while 

 to nearly all the residents its skins are absolutely necessary to pro- 

 tect them from the sev(3rity of the winter. 



The black, white and brown bears are common enough in their re- 

 spective areas. The former rarely ranges beyond the woodlands, never 

 being found so far north as Fort Chimo. The white bear is common in 

 the northern portions bordering the sea and is occasionally found as far 

 south as the strait of Belleisle, to which it has been carried on icebergs 

 or fields of ice. Akpatok island and the vicinity of Cape Chidley are 

 reported to be localities infested with these brutes. The brown or bar- 

 ren-ground bear appears to be restricted to a narrow area and is not 



