240 EXPLORATIONS IN THE FAR NORTH 



the animal unskinned to the trader or, if they do the work them- 

 selves, the skin must be kept outside the lodge. 



They are worth from 10 to 15 MB. 



The otter is found as far as the Arctic Coast but does not 

 enter the Barren Ground. Hearne 1 gives 62" N. as its northern 

 limit on Hudson's Bay. 



Gulo luscus Sab. Carcajou. 



Kwi-kwe-ke-o, C. 



This species is called in the North the carcajou, the name 

 wolverine being almost unknown. The caracajou is cordially 

 hated for his thieving propensities, which impel him to rob 

 caches enclosed in frozen earth, beneath heavy stones, or in 

 trees. The Crees engaged to travel from the Saskatchewan to 

 Selkirk with me deposited fish at three places for use on their 

 return. They cut a pit in the ice large enough to contain the 

 fish, then broke a hole, through which the water rose, and soon 

 enclosed the fish in solid ice; the snow drifting over it no sign 

 of a cache remained to attract the carcajous or foxes. 



The carcajou is too cunning to be taken in the ordinary trap 

 but is sometimes caught in a modified form of the dead fall. 

 Most of those secured are shot. 



The skins are worth from 5 to 10 MB in the interior, but along 

 the coast they are more highly valued by the Eskimos who use 

 them for trimming their skin clothing. The Eskimos pay the 

 Loucheux and Rat Indians a higher price for the carcajou skins 

 than do the traders. The whalers even bring the skins from 

 San Francisco to trade to the Eskimos. The carcajous are 

 decreasing in the southern part of this region throughout which 

 they occur. They are common in the Barren Ground and I 

 have seen them within fifty miles of Mackenzie Bay. 



Felis canadensis Raf. Canada Lynx. 



No-ta, D. R. Ni-chi, L. No-tha, S. 



The lynx is said to have the same periodicity of increase as 

 the northern hare upon which it preys. They should have 

 been at their maximum during the winter of 1893-4 but in the 

 Great Slave Lake region, where I then was, the "pishew" or 



1 Journey, p. 374, 



