368 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



of ways made by rows of bushes, where the deer become fairly 

 dazed, and are slaughtered with spears, and even clubs, the 

 women and children in the meantime guarding the outside of the 

 inclosure to prevent the escape of any. The number slaughtered 

 in this way is very great, and furnishes the natives with provision 

 in great abundance. 



We have many facts related of the Barren-ground Caribou 

 which serve to inform us of the degree and accuracy of their 

 powers of vision, and from these I think we may safely conclude 

 that if their sense of sight is quick it is not reliable. Indeed 

 we are led to the conclusion that they identify objects with less 

 certainty than any of the other deer. As we have just seen, 

 rows of bushes or piles of stone placed at considerable distances 

 apart serve to prevent them from passing tlie lines, and guide 

 them to the pound into which they are driven. This shows that 

 they do not identify the objects which guide them, nor do they 

 in their confusion even individualize those objects, but to them 

 they are so confused that they appear to form continuous lines 

 on either side, else they would pass out between them. This 

 defect of vision is further illustrated by what Captain Franklin 

 says of this deer, as quoted by Richardson : " The Reindeer has 

 a quick eye, but the hunter, by keeping to the windward of 

 them, and vising a little caution, may approach very near, their 

 apprehensions being much more easily aroused by the smell than 

 the sight of any unusual object. Indeed, their curiosity often 

 causes them to come close up to and wheel round the hunter, 

 thus affording him a good opportunity of singling out the fattest 

 of the herd ; and upon these occasions they become so confused 

 by the shouts and gestures of their enemy that they run back- 

 wards and forwards with great rapidity, but without the power 

 of making their escape. The Copper Indians find by experience 

 that a white dress attracts them most readily, and they often 

 succeed in bringing them within shot by kneeling and vibrating 

 the gun from side to side in imitation of the motion of the deer's 

 horns, when he is in the act of rubbing his head against a 

 stone. The Dog-rib Indians have a way of killing these ani- 

 mals which, though simple, is very successful. It is thus de- 

 scribed by Mr. Wentzell, who resided long amongst that people. 

 The hunters go in pairs, the foremost man carrying in one hand 

 the horns and part of the skin of the head of a deer, and in the 

 other a small bunch of twigs, against which he, from time to 

 time, rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar to the animal. 



