954 LABRADOR 
At a pinch, one’s steeds may be killed and eaten with 
relish, while the carcass, where meat supplies are scarce, 1s 
always of incomparable value. The tongues and kidneys 
form great delicacies, and the tongues may be smoked for ex- 
port. A good-sized stag will weigh three hundred pounds, 
and has for meat alone fetched $50 in the Alaskan markets. 
The large, thickly haired skin of caribou or of the Lapland 
reindeer is invaluable for many purposes, —for boots, 
clothing, sleeping-bags, tents, and blankets. These skins 
need scarcely any preparatory treatment. Dehaired and 
dressed, they make most satisfactory clothing for use in 
cold climates. The sleek, dark-brown hair of the early 
fall affords a very beautiful material for ladies’ Jackets 
or motor coats, and picked skins for such purposes should 
well repay exportation; two dollars apiece is the present 
local price for Labrador deer skins. Some of our deer have 
snow-white skins in winter, and the hair is as thick as a 
cocoanut fibre mat. 
Moccasins manufactured from the thinner deer skins make 
the warmest foot-gear known. The heavier stag skins fur- 
nish admirable light, soft, flexible over-clothes. They are 
perfectly wind proof, and, when dressed for use, fetch fifty 
cents to one dollar per pound weight. Stretched, undressed, 
they are sold by the pound as parchment; this, cut into 
strips, is rolled up, and sold as babbage, out of which all 
the fillings for snow-shoes are made. Of this, also, are made 
the lashings for our sledges and the harness for our dogs. 
The tough thongs show remarkable elastic strength as 
they feel the jarring and jolting of the rough trails. The 
very tendons that are useless as food are amongst our most 
valuable acquisitions, affording our women all the sewing 
