MAMMALIA, 247 
building material, compact snow. The sides of the trap are built of slabs of 
that substance, cut as if for a snow-house ; an inclined plane of snow leads to 
the entrance of the pit, which is about five feet deep, and of sufficient dimen- 
sions to contain two or three large deer. The pit is covered with a large, 
thin slab of snow, which the animal is enticed to tread upon by a quantity 
of the lichens on which it feeds being placed conspicuously on an eminence 
beyond the opening. The exterior of the trap is banked up with snow so as to 
resemble a natural hillock, and care is taken to render it so steep on all sides but 
one, that the deer must pass over the mouth of the trap before it can reach the 
bait. The slab is sufficiently strong to bear the weight of a deer until it has 
passed its middle, when it revolves on two short axles of wood, precipitates the 
deer into the trap, and returns to its place again in consequence of the lower end 
being heavier than the other. Throughout the whole line of coast frequented by 
the Esquimaux, it is customary to see long lines of stones set on an end, or of turfs 
piled up at intervals of about twenty yards, for the purpose of leading the caribou 
to stations where they can be more easily approached. ‘The natives find by 
experience that the animals, in feeding, imperceptibly take the line of direction 
‘of the objects thus placed before them, and the hunter can approach a herd 
that he sees from a distance, by gradually crawling from stone to stone, and 
remaining motionless when he sees any of the animals looking towards him. The 
whole of the Barren-Grounds are intersected by caribou paths, like sheep tracks, 
which are of service to travellers at times in leading them to convenient crossing 
places of lakes or rivers. | 
Hearne gives the following account of the deer pound in use amongst the 
Chepewyans :— 
“When the Indians design to impound deer, they look out for one of the 
paths in which a number of them have trod, and which is observed to be still 
frequented by them. When these paths cross a lake, a wide river, or a barren 
plain, they are found to be much the best for the purpose ; and if the path run 
through a cluster of woods, capable of affording materials for building the pound, 
it adds considerably to the commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built 
by making a strong fence with brushy trees, without observing any degree of 
regularity, and the work is continued to any extent, according to the pleasure of 
the builders. Ihave seen some that were not less than a mile round, and am 
informed that there are others still more extensive. The door or entrance of the 
pound is not larger than a common gate, and the inside is so crowded with small 
counter-hedges as very much to resemble a maze, in every opening of which 
