TCRNER] HUNTING DEER. 279 



others walk uuconceruedly about, seemiugly deprived of the power of 

 flight. Tlie Indians hurriedly close upon them, and in a few minutes 

 the entire herd is destroyed or dispersed in all directions. 



The guns used on this occasion are the cheapest kind of muzzle-load- 

 ing single-barreled shotguns. The balls used are of such size that they 

 will drop to the bottom of the chamber. No patching is used, and a 

 Jar on the ground is deemed sufficient to settle the ball upon the pow- 

 der. The employment of a ramrod would require too nnicli time, as 

 the Indian is actuated by the desire to kill as many as possible in the 

 shortest time. They do not use the necessary care in loading their 

 gnus, and often the ball becomes lodged in the chamber and the gun 

 bursts when fired. When sliooting downhill the ball often rolls out. 

 It is surprising that so few fatal accidents occur. A quantity of pow- 

 der is poured directly into the gun from its receptacle, the ball dropped 

 down, and a cap taken from between the fingers, where it was placed 

 for convenience. Hunters often practice the motions of rapid loading 

 and firing. Tliey are remarkably expert, surjiassing the Eskimo iu this, 

 though the Eskimo is far the better marksman. 



A thii'd method jjursued is that of snaring the deer. 



A ijlan adopted to capture deer iu the winter is as follows: A herd 

 of deer is discovered, and men and women put on their snowshoes. 

 The deer are surrounded and driven into a snowbank many feet deep, 

 in which the affrighted animals plunge until they nearly bury them- 

 selves. The hunters, armed with the lance, pursue them and kill them. 

 This means of procuring deer is only adopted when the herd is near a 

 convenient snowbank of proper depth. The snow falling in the winter 

 collects in gullies and ravines, and only in seasons where there has been 

 an abundance of snow will it attain sufficient depth to serve the pur- 

 pose. 



Smaller game, such as ducks, geese, ptarmigan, hares, rabbits, por- 

 cupines, beavers, and an occasional lynx, aflbrd variety of food. Ptar- 

 migan are slaughtered by thousands. Huudreds of pounds of their 

 feathers annually purchase small trinkets for the Indian women, and 

 during this season it is unusual to see a woman without some feathers 

 of these birds adhering to her clothing or hair. 



The women and men annually destroy thousands of the eggs and 

 young of these birds. Eabbits and hares, too, fall beneath the arrow 

 or shotgun. Porcupines are more common toward the sources of the 

 streams falling into Hudson Strait. They are found in trees, from 

 which they gnaw the bark and terminal portions of the branches for 

 food. The porcupine must be carefully cleaned lest the flesh be unfit 

 for food. The hair and spines are removed by scorching or by pouring 

 hot water over the body. 



Of the carnivorous mammals the lynx only is eaten, and this when 

 other food is scarce. Bears are so rare that they form but an unim- 



