Q44 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
soon after they drop their young. ‘The flesh of the caribou is very tender, and its 
flavour when in season is, in my opinion, superior to that of the finest English 
venison ; but when the animal is lean it is very insipid, the difference being greater 
between well-fed and lean caribou than any one can conceive who has not had an 
opportunity of judging. The lean meat fills the stomach but never satisfies the 
appetite, and scarcely serves to recruit the strength when exhausted by labour, 
The flesh of the moose-deer and buffalo, on the other hand, is tough when lean, 
but is never so utterly tasteless and devoid of nourishment as that of a caribou in 
poor condition. ‘The Chepewyans, the Copper Indians, the Dog-ribs and Hare 
Indians of Great Bear Lake, would be totally unable to inhabit their barren lands 
were it not for the immense herds of this deer that exist there. Of the caribou 
horns they form their fish-spears and hooks; and previous to the introduction of 
European iron, ice-chisels and various other utensils were likewise made of them, 
The hide dressed with the fur is, as has been already mentioned, excellent for 
winter clothing, and supplies the place of both blanket and feather-bed to the 
inhabitants of the Arctic wilds. When subjected to the process described in the 
article on the moose-deer, it forms a soft and pliable leather, adapted for mocassins 
and summer clothing, or when sixty or seventy skins are sewed together, they 
make a tent sufficient for the residence of a large family. The shin-bone of the 
deer, split so as to present a sharp edge, is the knife that is used to remove the 
hair in the process of making the leather. ‘The undressed hide, after the hair is 
taken off, is cut into thongs of various thickness, which are twisted into deer- 
snares, bow-strings, net-lines, and in fact supply all the purposes of rope. The 
finer thongs are used in the manufacture of fishing nets or in working snow- 
shoes ; while the tendons of the dorsal muscles are split into fine and excellent 
sewing thread. 
Besides these and many other uses to which the Indians appropriate different 
parts of the caribou in their domestic economy, the animal is no less useful in the 
way of food. ‘The hunter breaks the leg bones of a recently-slaughtered deer, and 
while the marrow is still warm devours it with much relish. The kidneys and 
part of the intestines, particularly the thin folds of the third stomach or many-plies, 
are likewise occasionally eaten when raw, and the summits of the antlers, as long . 
as they are soft, are also delicacies in a raw state. The colon or large gut is 
inverted, so as to preserve its fatty appendages, and is, when either roasted or 
boiled, one of the richest and most savoury morsels the country affords, either to 
the native or white resident. The remainder of the intestines, after being cleaned, 
are hung in the smoke for a few days and then broiled. The stomach and its 
