GAME. 187 



there was a dead calm. However, at about 10 o'clock a 

 north wind sprang up, so that we put to sea and sailed 

 ■until within eight miles of Strawberry Harbor, when it 

 blew hard and became too thick to run farther ; so we 

 put back three miles and ran under a lee-shore, where 

 the northeast wind blew a cold, fierce gale, with fog and 

 rain. Our vessel dragged her anchor, which was down 

 :at a depth of twenty fathoms, so that the larger one was 

 dropped down, making ninety fathoms of cable to haul 

 in on the morrow. 



Our pilot was a very intelligent half-breed who could 

 read and write, his wife also a half-breed Eskimo. He 

 .said that the ice had only cleared off the previous week, 

 and up to that time since March they have steadily had 

 in Stag Bay cold easterly and northeasterly winds. Near 

 where we anchored was Cole's brother, who had built 

 himself a new house. Yesterday he took six and to-day 

 eight salmon in his nets, which were stretched across the 

 mouth of a little brook. He shot eleven deer during 

 the winter, one of them sufficient to supply the family 

 with food for two weeks. They had plenty of deer and 

 ■other garne when too late in the season for obtaining 

 fur ; he predicted an abundant supply of game during the 

 'Coming autumn. We will give his statement regarding 

 the varieties of foxes here, which may be taken for what 

 it is worth. There are four varieties of foxes which he 

 said crossed among themselves, i.e., the red and white, 

 which are the two most common ones ; then the patch 

 fox, which is blue with red on the rump, and the black 

 fox. Whether the red and white or arctic fox interbreed 

 we do not know ; the blue fox is undoubtedly the white 

 fox in its summer pelage ; the short ears and long tail 



