THE WOLF. 467 



ure was left open. For many days they did not leave the 

 vicinity of the camp. Finally, they became almost as 

 domestic in their habits as cows. They frequently wan- 

 dered off in the woods, but invariably returned in the even- 

 ing and slept in the inclosure; although on many occasions 

 they remained feeding upon the plains all night, and then 

 would come back in the morning. 



About a year after the capture of the animals, and when 

 they were unusually tame, Sabourin conceived the idea of 

 training them to harness. He made a set of rude harness 

 out of the thick, strong hide of the Moose; and before hitch- 

 ing them to his traine sauvage, he drove them around 

 abreast for some days, at the first trial having them led by 

 one of the young Indian boys. After about three weeks of 

 patient training, he had the satisfaction of being able to 

 drive them wherever he pleased, as the Laplander does his 

 Reindeer. In his hunting excursions, Sabourin found his 

 horned team of trotters of the greatest use. On the wide, 

 open plains, he was accustomed to drive close up to a herd 

 of Caribou without alarming them in the least, and thus 

 was enabled to obtain many a sure and successful shot 

 without subjecting himself to the labor and fatigue of a 

 slow and protracted stalk upon this wary game. 



According to the story, the two Deer remained with the 

 hunter for eight years. They were frequently absent in the 

 forest for two or three days at a time, but, strange to say, 

 never appeared to separate, and never failed to return. The 

 younger members of the tribe wondered at what they 

 thought the magic of the white man, attested by the taming 

 of such proverbially wild and shy animals. To some of the 

 elders of the tribe, however, the accomplishment of the dif- 

 ficult task did not seem so unaccountable. They appeared 

 to have had a dim recollection of a tradition, handed down 

 from one generation to another, from the far-back past, 

 that their remote ancestors, in other lands, had been accus- 

 tomed to use the Reindeer for similar purposes. 



Can it be that a possibility exists of a lineal relationship 

 existing between the Laplanders and the aborigines of the 



