276 THE HUDSON BAY ESKIMO. 



tiou of the ensuing winter's bunt, after wliiclitliey are relied onto raft 

 down the sxipjdy of wood cut by the white men for the next winter's 

 supply of fuel. "This consumes the season until the middle of July. 

 Stragglers are out even later. The men, meantime, select the locality 

 where they will remain for the sununer and fall. Tlie winter is to be 

 occupied in getting furs. Each head of a party announces his intended 

 location and the parties gradually leave the post for their destination. 

 Some of the Indians in former years were employed to assist the salmon 

 fishing, but they proved to be unreliable, either through fear of the turbu- 

 lent waters of the Koksoak or inattention to their task. They were 

 easily allured from the nets by the appearance of any game, and as 

 the tides in that river do not wait even for an Indian, serious losses 

 resulted from carelessness. Hence their places in later years are filled 

 by Eskimo, who are better adai)ted to the work. 



The various parties disperse in different directions in order that the 

 entire district may afford its products for their benefit. The Indians 

 know the habits of the animals in those regions so well that they are 

 sure, if they go to a iiarticular locality, to find the game they are iu 

 quest of. 



The reindeer provides them with the greater part of their food and 

 the skius of these animals afford them clothing. 



Although their food consists of reindeer, ptarmigan, fish, and other 

 game, the deer is their main reliance, aud when without it, however 

 great the abundance of other food, they consider themselves starving. 



The deer are jn'ocured in several ways, the principal of which is by 

 the use of the lance or s])ear. In the months of September and Octo- 

 tober they collect from various directions. During the spring the 

 females had repaired to the treeless hills and mountains of the Cape 

 Chidley region to bring forth their young on those elevations in early 

 June or late May. After the young have become of good size the 

 mothers lead them to certain localities whither the males, having gone 

 in an opposite direction, also leturn. They meet somewhere.along the 

 banks of the Koksoak river, usually near the confluence of that river 

 with the North or Larch. ^Yhile thousands of these animals are con- 

 gregated on each bank small herds are continually swimming back and 

 forth, impellciLby the sexual instinct. The hair of the young animals 

 is now iu excellent condition for making skin garments. The females 

 are thin, not yet having recovered from the exhaustion of furnishing 

 food for their young and material for the new set of antlers, which ap- 

 l)ear immediately after the birth of the fii\vns. The skin is, however, 

 in tolerable condition, especially in late October. The back of the 

 male is now covered with a large mass of fat known as "back fat." 

 This deposit is about 1 to IJ inches thick by 2 feet bi'oadand 20 inches 

 long. The males are full of vigor and iii the best possible condition 

 at this season, as the antlers have become dry and cease to draw u^wu 

 the animal for material to su^iply tlieir immense growth. 



