BARREN GROUNDS CARIBOU 
for these migratory millions is furnished by the herbage, moss 
and lichens, and the sprouts of heather, which may be found 
in wind-swept places or brought to light by scraping hoofs and 
snow-shoveling horns. 
On these periodical movements of the reindeer, the unfortunate sav- 
ages who are born to live the narrowest of lives in almost arctic deserts 
of rocks and snow rely for their mainstay of winter subsist- Utility 
ence; many regions, indeed, could never have been habitable of Caribou. 
otherwise. ‘‘Every part of the animal is utilized in some way. The flesh, 
of course, is eaten, the stomach and intestines also; even the points of the 
antlers, when in the soft condition, are considered a delicacy. The leg 
bones are broken for the marrow they contain, which is eaten raw, if wood 
for a fire is not available, and the blood is mixed with meat and forms a 
rich soup. In fact, no part of the animal’s body that can be masticated 
is rejected, even the lichens and such vegetable matters as are found in the 
stomach being also eaten. The skin with the hair on is used for clothing, 
and no garment so successfully resists the arctic cold as this, it is so light 
and so impervious to the wind, which always blows a gale on the Barren 
Grounds. When dressed it becomes very soft and pliable, and when a 
number of hides are sewn together they make an excellent tent for summer, 
large enough for a numerous family. Cut into thongs of various sizes, it 
makes very strong bowstrings, wherever those ancient weapons of the chase 
are still used, and lines for nets and cords for deer snares; when cut into 
strings it is called babiche and is used for shoe lacing; in fact, it is utilized 
for the many purposes that civilized peoples employ ropes and cords. A 
split shin bone makes a good knife, and fish hooks and spears are made 
from the horns, while the tendons of certain muscles make very fine and 
strong thread for sewing with the bone needle. . . . 
“Probably no animal is so easily approached as are these Barren Grounds 
caribou in the summer time, and enormous numbers are slain every year, 
so many, indeed, that it would seem the race must become extinct in a com- 
paratively brief period. In their dispositions they are not unlike sheep in 
some particulars, especially in following a leader; and sometimes a herd 
will run the gantlet of a line of hunters simply because one stupid animal 
had gone that way and the rest are determined to follow the lead set them. 
So many caribou have been slaughtered on the barrens and tundras of the 
arctic regions, both east and west of the mountains, that in certain dis- 
tricts their numbers have been greatly reduced, and in some the animals 
have disappeared altogether.” 78 
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