230 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



October, both with and without Indians, I am satisfied that a 

 white man can secure them without the aid of natives. They 

 are killed along the rivers from the decks of steamers, which 

 they will allow to approach within rifle range. In winter they 

 are stalked as in summer, though when the snow is very deep 

 they are said to be pursued by runners upon snow-shoes. Dur- 

 ing two winters in the north I knew of no instance where they 

 were so hunted. From two to five are usually found together, 

 and it is very seldom that the Indian hunter does not succeed 

 in killing more than one of them. 



The flesh of the moose is preferred to that of the caribou, 

 whether fresh or dried. Moccasins, gloves, mittens, coats, 

 lodges, harness, gun covers, sled wrappers, boats, etc., are made 

 from the skins. Thread is made from the sinew of the back, 

 and skin scrapers from the long bones. From 2 to 5 dollars is 

 paid for a dressed skin and about half as much for the meat. 



Mooseskins are supplied to all Company's posts, where the 

 moose are not found, from which to make moccasins, etc., for 

 officers and servants. 



The moose is found throughout the wooded portion of this 

 region and even beyond the timber line among the willow- 

 covered islands of the Mackenzie Delta. William Flett, the 

 interpreter at Fort Smith, one of the most intelligent of the 

 Loucheux, declares that the moose west of Rampart House 

 (abandoned 1893) have hoofs like the mountain goat. They 

 are said to be very numerous and easily approached in the 

 mountains west of Norman. 



McConnell speaks of the region between the Devil's Portage 

 and Hell Gate on the Liard River as "probably the best moose 

 country in North America." 1 They are common west of the 

 Northern Arm of the Great Slave Lake but rare east of it. 2 

 The Indians assert that this is due to the presence during a 

 part of the year of the Barren Ground caribou. I think it quite 

 as likely that the absence of proper food for a browsing animal 

 may account for such distribution. 



Sir Alexander Mackenzie states that, in 1789, moose were not 

 found north of the mouth of the Liard River (61" 34' N.); this 



1 Ann. Rep. Geo. Sur. of Canada, Vol. IV, p. 46. 



* According to King they have been found as far to the northeast as the 

 Fish River, east of the Great Slave Lake. Narrative, Vol. I, p. 192. 



