THE SKINS. 411 



main, especially on the skins of the reindeer. The same author 

 says, when treating of the Barren-ground Caribou : " The hide 

 dressed with tlie fur is, as has been already mentioned, excellent 

 for winter clothing, and supplies the place of both blanket and 

 feather-bed, to the inhabitants of the Arctic wilds. When sub- 

 jected to the process described in the article on the Moose Deer 

 it forms a soft and pliable leather, adapted for moccasins and 

 summer clothing, or, when sixty or seventy skins are sewed to- 

 gether, they make a tent sufficient for the residence of a large 

 family." " The undressed hide, after the hair is taken off, is cut 

 into thongs of various thickness, which are twisted into deer- 

 snares, bow-strings, net-lines, and, in fact, supply all the pur- 

 poses of rope. The finer thongs are used in the manufacture of 

 fishing-nets, or in making snow-shoes ; while the tendons of the 

 dorsal muscles are split into fine and excellent sewing-thread." 



The portion of the skin of the Moose most prized for mocca- 

 sins is that about the hock, which is peeled down without being 

 cut open, is properly tanned with the hair on, and sewed uj) at 

 the lower end, and is found to be well shaped by nature for the 

 foot. The skin from the leg is firmer, and is more impervious to 

 the water than that of the body, and the hair there is shorter, 

 firmer, and more enduring than on other parts. 



The skin of the Wapiti Deer is less tenacious and less enduring 

 than that of any other of the species. This fact was discovered by 

 Lewis and Clarke, much to their cost. To cover their iron-framed 

 boat above the falls of the Missouri, they selected Elk skins in 

 preference to tiie skins of the buffalo, because they supposed 

 they were " more strong and durable," but when it was too late 

 they discovered their error, and the boat had to be abandoned. 



But my own experiments have been conclusive as to the com- 

 parative worthlessness of the skin of the Elk. I have had them 

 tanned by various processes and into various kinds of leather. I 

 had a prime buck skin tanned into harness leather. It was soft 

 and pliable, but had very little strength and endurance. Hitch- 

 ing-straps made fronr it seemed very nice, but their tensile 

 strength was very low, and they actually wore out by a few 

 weeks' use. Several skins from young Elk less than a year old, 

 tanned into shoe leather, appear all that could be desired for 

 shoes or soft boots, but they have so little strength that they can 

 be torn in two by the hands like a piece of muslin, while I find 

 all the skins of the other species of deer which I have in confine- 

 ment, tanned in the same way, as strong as if tanned by the 



