^04 
• - ■■• ■ ■ .'■-'^ — ■ — -■ - 
is inverted, so as to preserve its fatty appendages, and 
is, when either roasted or boiled, one of the richest and 
most savory morsels the country affords, either to the 
native or white resident. The remainder of the in- 
testines, after being cleaned, are hung in the smoke for a 
few days and then broiled. The stomach and its con- 
tents, termed by the Esquimaux ncrrooks, and by the 
Greenlanders nerrokak or nerriooka>k, are also eaten, and 
it would appear that the lichens and other vegetable 
matters on which the caribou feeds are more easily di- 
gested by the human stomach when they are mixed with 
the salivary and gastric juices of a ruminating animal. 
Many of the Indians and Canadian voyagers prefer this 
savory mixture after it has undergone a degree of fer- 
mentation, or lain to season, as they term it, for a few 
days. The blood, if mixed in proper proportion with a 
strong decoction of fat meat, forms, after some nicety in 
the cooking, a rich soup, which is very palatable and 
highly nutritious, but very difficult of digestion. When 
all the soft parts of the animal are consumed, the bones 
are pounded small, and a large quantity of marrow is ex- 
tracted from them by boiling. This is used in making the 
better kinds of the mixture of dried meat and fat, which 
is named pemmican, and it is also preserved by the young 
men and females for anointing the hair and greasing the 
face on dress occasions. The tongue roasted, when fresh 
or when half dried, is a delicious morsel. When it is 
necessary to preserve the caribou meat for use at a 
future period, it is cut into thin slices and dried over 
the smoke of a slow fire, and then pounded betwixt two 
stones. This pounded meat is very dry and husky, and 
is eaten alone, but when a quantity of the back fat or 
depouille of the deer is added to it, is one of the greatest 
treats that can be offered to a resident in the fur coun- 
tries. Pemmican is formed by pouring one-third part of 
melted fat over the pounded meat and incorporating them 
well together. If kept dry it may be preserved sound for 
three or four years, and from the quantity of nourish- 
ment it contains in small bulk, it is perhaps the best kind 
of food for those who travel through desert lands. 
Thueehawgan is a mixture of pounded deer's meat and 
dried fish or fish roe, which is eaten raw, or when made 
into soup, by throwing a handful of it into boiHng water. 
"The caribou travel in herds, varying in number from 
eight or ten to two or three hundred, and their daily 
excursions are generally toward the quarter from whence 
the wind blows. The Indians kill them with the bow and 
arrow or gun, take them in snares, or spear them in 
crossing rivers or lakes. The Esquimaux also take them 
in traps ingeniously formed of ice or snow. Of all the 
deer of North America, they are the most easy of ap- 
proach, and are slaughtered in the greatest numbers. A 
single family of Indians will sometimes destroy two or 
three hundred in a few weeks, and in many cases they 
are killed for the sake of their tongues alone. 
"The following extract from Captain Lyon's interest- 
ing journal, details some of the Esquimaux methods of 
killing them. The reindeer,' says he, 'visits the polar 
regions at the latter end of May or the early part of 
June, and remains until late in September. On his first 
arrival, he is thin, and his flesh is tasteless, but the short 
summer is sufficient to fatten him to two or three inches 
on the haunches. When feeding on the level ground, an 
Esquimaux makes no attempt to approach him, but should 
a few rocks be near, the wary himter feels secure of his 
prey. Behind one of these he cautiously creeps, and 
having laid himself very close, with his bow and arrow 
before him, imitates the bellow of the deer when calling 
to each other. Sometimes, for more complete deception, 
the hunter wears his deerskin coat and hood so drawn 
over his head, as to resemble, in a great measure, the un- 
suspecting animals he is enticing. Tliough the bellow 
proves a considerable attraction, yet if a man has great 
patience he may do without it, and may be equally^ certain 
that his prey will ultimately come to examine him; the 
reindeer being an inquisitive animal, and at the same 
time so silly, that if he sees any suspicious object which 
is not actually chasing him, he will gradually, and after 
many caperings, and forming repeated circles, approach 
nearer and nearer to it. The Esquimaux rarely shoot un- 
til the creature is within twelve paces, and I have fre- 
quently been told of their being killed at a much shorter 
distance. It is to be observed that the hunters never ap- 
proach openly, but employ stratagem for their purpose; 
thus, by patience and ingenuity rendering their rudely 
formed bows and still worse arrows, as effective as the 
rifles of Europeans. When two men hunt in company, 
they sometimes purposely show themselves to the deer, 
and when his attention is fully engaged, walk slowly 
away from him, one before the other. The deer fol- 
lows, and when the hunter arrives near a stone, the fore- 
most drops behind it and prepares his bow, while his com- 
panion continues walking steadily forward. This latter 
the deer still follows unsuspectingly, and thus passes 
near the concealed man, who takes a deliberate aim and 
kills the animal. When the deer assemble in herds, there 
are particular passes which they invariably take, and on 
being driven to them are killed by arrows of the men, 
while the women, with shouts, drive them to the water. 
Here they swim with the ease and activity of water dogs, 
the people in kayaks chasing and easily spearing them; 
the carcasses float, and the hunter then presses forward 
and kills as many as he finds in his track. No springs or 
traps are used in the capture of these animals, as is prac- 
ticed to the southward, in consequence of the total ab- 
sence of standing wood.' The caribou entirely quit the 
districts which Capt. Lyon visited, in the winter ; but the 
Esquimaux who inhabit the coast of the Welcome, to the 
southward of Chesterfield inlet, have an opportunity, by 
the animals continuing in their country, of showing their 
ingenuity in the construction of deer traps, of their con- 
venient and elegant 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 dimensions 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 re- 
semble 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 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
it has passed it.s middle, when it revolves on two short 
axles of woods, 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 remain- 
ing motionless when he sees any of the animals looking 
toward him. The whole of the barren grounds are iti- 
tersected by caribou paths, like sheep tracks, which are 
of service to travelers at times in leading them to con- 
venient crossing places of lakes or rivers. 
"Hearne gives the following account of the deer pound 
in use among the Chipewyans: 
" '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 thein. When these paths cross a lake, a wide river, 
or a barren plain, they are found to he 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 poimd is built by making a strong fence 
with brushy trees, without observing any degree of regu- 
laritjr, and the work is continued to any extent, according 
to the pleasure of the biiilders. I have seen some that 
were not less than a mile round, and am informed that 
there are others still more extensive. The door or en- 
trance 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 
they set a snare, made with thongs of parchment deer- 
skins well twisted together, which are amazingly strong. 
One end of the snare is usually made fast to a growing 
pole ; but if no one of a sufficient size can be found near 
the place where the snare is set. a loose pole is stibstituted 
in its room, which is always of such size and length that 
a deer cannot drag it far before it gets entangled among 
the other woods, which are all left standing, except what 
is found necessary for making the fence, hedges, etc. 
The pound being thus prepared, a row of small brush- 
wood is stuck up in the snow on each side of the door 
or entrance, aiid these hedge rows are continued along 
the open part of the lake, river, or plain, where neither 
stick nor stump beside is to be seen, which makes them 
the more distinctly observed. These poles or brushwood 
are generally placed at the distance of fifteen or twenty 
yards from each other, and ranged in such a manner as to 
form two sides of a long acute angle, growing gradually 
wider in proportion to the distance they extend from 
the pound, which sometimes is not less than two or three 
miles, while the deer's path is exactly along the middle, 
between the two rows of brushwood. 
" 'Indians employed on this service always pitch their 
tents on or near tO' an eminence that affords a command- 
ing prospect of the path leading to the pound; and when 
they see any deer going that way, men, women, and 
children walk along the lake or river side under cover of 
the -woods, till they get behind them, then step forth to 
open view, and proceed toward the pound in form of a 
crescent. The poor timorous deer finding themselves pur- 
sued, and at the same time taking the two rows of 
brushy poles to be two ranks of people standing to pre- 
vent their passing on either side, rixn straight forward in 
the path till they get into the pound. The Indians then 
close in, and block up the entrance with some brushy trees 
that have been cut down and lie at hand for that pur- 
pose. The deer being thus inclosed, the women and 
children walk round the pound to prevent them from 
jumping over or breaking through the fence, while the 
men are employed spearing such as are entangled in the 
-snares, and shooting with bows and arrows those which 
remain loose in the pound. This method of hunting, if it 
deserve the name, is sometimes so successful, that many 
families subsist hy it without having occasion to move 
their tents above once or twice during the course of a 
whole winter; and when the spring advances, both the 
deer and the Indians draw out to the eastward,_ on the 
ground which is entirely barren, or at least what is called 
so in these parts, as it neither produces trees nor shrubs 
of any kind, so that moss and some little grass is all the 
herbage which is to be found on it.' 
"Captain Franklin observes that 'the reindeer has a 
quick eye, but the hunter by keeping to leeward of them 
and using a little caution, may approach very near; their 
apprehensions being much more easily roused by the smell 
than the sight of any unusual object. Indeed, their 
curiosity often causes -them to come close up to and wheel 
round the hunter, thus affording him a good opportunity 
of singling out the fattest of the herd, and upon these 
occasions they become so confused by the shouts and 
gestures of their enemy, that they run backward and for- 
ward with great rapidity, but without the power of 
making their escape. The Copper Indians find by experi- 
ence that a white dress attracts them most readily, and 
they often succeed in bringing them within shot, by 
kneeling and vibrating the gun from side to side, in 
imitation of the motion of a deer's horns when it is in the 
act of rubbing its head against a stone. The Dogrib 
Indians have a mode of killing these animals which, 
though simple, is very successful. It was thus described 
by Mr. Wentzel, who resided long among that people. 
The hunters go in pairs, the foremost carrying in one 
hand the horns and part of the skin of the_ head o_f a 
deer, and in the other a small bundle of twigs_, against 
which he, from time to time, rubs the horns, imitating 
the gestures peculiar to the animal. His comrade fol- 
lows treading exactlj^ in his footsteps, and holding the 
guns of both in a horizontal position, so that the muzzles 
project under the arms of him who carries the head. 
Both hunters have a fillet of white skin round their fore- 
heads, and the foremost has a strip of the same rounrl 
his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees, raising 
their legs very slowly, but letting them down some- 
what suddenly, after the manner of a deer, and always 
taking care to lift their right or left feet simultaneously. 
If any of the herd leave off_ feeding to gaze upon this 
extraordinary phenomenon, it instantly stops, and the 
head begins to play its part by licking its shoulders and 
[SEPf. 13, tfjO;;3. 
performing other necessary movements, In this way 
the hunters attain the very center of the herd without 
exciting suspicion, and have lei'-'ure to single out the fat- 
test. The hindmost man then pushes forward his com- 
rade's gun, the head is dropped, and they both fire nearly 
at the same instant. The deer scamper off, the hunters 
trot after them; in a short time the poor anirnals halt to 
ascertain the cause of their terror, their foes stop at the 
same moment, and having loaded as they rati, greet the 
gazers with a second fatal discharge. The consternation 
of the deer increases, they run to and fro in the utmost 
confusion, and sometimes a great part of the herd is 
destroyed within the space of a few htmdred yards.' " 
Of the woodland caribou, on the other hand, Richard- 
son knew little, for they did not inhabit his country. 
Cat and Goral Snake. 
Tapachula Chiapas, Mexico, August 16. — Editor Fcn-- 
cst and Stream: Some years ago I saw a cat bring a 
snake into my house. She had four half-grown kittens 
at the time, and immediately called them up for a supper. 
I looked at the snake and saw that it was a "coral," con- 
sidered by the natives to be very deadly. 
I, thought no more of the matter until next morning, 
Vi'hen I saw the cat dead. Remembering the circum- 
stances, I examined the cat and found where she had 
been punctured in the side by the two. fangs. Strange 
to say, the body of the cat was very little swollen. 
The color of this snake is black, red and yellow. I 
have never seen one over three feet long, and they are 
very cowardly. ^ Gu.a.teaiala. 
[This was very likely the soiithwestern coral snake 
(Elaps etiry.vanthus) , described by Kennicott more than 
forty years ago, in the Proceedings of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. It is probably very 
poisonous. ' 
Concerning the Florida coral snake. Dr. Einar Loenn- 
berg wrote iti the Proceedings of the United States Na- 
tional Museum, Vol. XVII., 1894, page 334: "Few people 
know or believe that it is poisonous, it looks so harmless, ^ 
and as a consequence they catch it and handle it rather 
roughly; the snake gets angry, bites, and a human life is 
endangered. I know personally of .such a case. A Swede 
at Pakland, Orange county, found an Elaps, and because 
of its beautiful color he caught it and tried to put it into'' 
a bottle of alcohol. The snake bit him, but the wound 
was not large, a:id as it did not swell he did not care much 
about it at first. After a while he was taken very sick, ; 
went to bed, asked for a physician, and drank whisky; 
but it was then too late. Pie died the next morning, about 
twelve hours after the snake had bitten him. During, 
the last two hours he was unconscious, but before that 
he suffered most excruciating pains. I have heard of" 
several other cases of boys dying from Elaps' bite. 
"In other cases people have been bitten by an Elaps 
fulvius without suffering from it in any way, but I sup- ' 
pose that in such cases the Elaps had not been able to. in- 
ject any poison into the wound, as it has a rather small ' 
mouth. However that may be, I cannot agree with Cope 
that the bite 'of the smaller ones (meaning smaller species 
of Elaps) is innocuous to man and the larger animals.' 
It is to be observed that the Elaps bites differently 'from 
the Crotalids and Viperids. The latter snake throws itsi, 
head forward in striking, and draws it back again imme-; 
diately. The Elaps fulvius I have seen and heard about' 
have acted in an entirely different manner. The poor 
Swede above mentioned had to pull the snake from the, 
wound, and other specimens that I had induced to bite 
into sticks kept the stick in the mouth for a good while. 
This habit probably signifies an intention to press as much 
.poison as possible into the wound, which makes the snake ! 
the more dangerous. Elaps fulvius is, however, a good- ) 
natured snake, and it does not bite tmless it is very much 
provoked. If not handled too rouglily, an Elaps may be ' 
allowed to craAvl on one's hands from one to the other. | 
I have allowed it myself once, but I hardly think I would < 
do it over again, and would not advise any one else to 
try it."] 
The Bobolink's Songf. 
Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 28. — I have read with interest i 
the various comments appearing in Forest and Stream . 
of late regardiiig the sayings of this beautiful bird. 
In my boyhood days in New England, bobolinks nested : 
in the corn and hay fields, making their appearance about i 
corn-planting time, and my father's version of what tb' ' 
said was this : 
"Bobolink, bobolink, whistlink, whistlink, watchcc, 
w'atchee, don't speak to me again in all your lifetime." 
I, as any observing boy would, became interested; and \ 
year after year an old Bob — apparently the same bird— 
v/ould come, and when I went too near he would rise am! 
circle around over my head, and to my mind very plainly 
said : 
"Tro Mon Tre Male, hired a horse to go fifty mile, . 
carriage broke down, kill 'em, kill 'em, kill 'em." i 
Samuel B. Dow. i 
More Soag Birds for Oregon. 
From The Portland Oregonian. 
Some months ago a number of citizens of Portland subscribed a 
purse to send to Germany to purchase nightingales. Word has 
been received here that the birds, sixty-five pairs of them, of the 
black-headed and plain varieties, will arrive in a few days. With 
them will arrive a supply of ants' eggs and meal worms, which are 
said to be the natural foods of the nightingales, though no one 
knows how on earth such tiny birds dig up ant hills for the eggs 
or break into meal bins to catch meal worms. The birds will be 
placed in a conservatory in Riverview Cemetery for the winter, 
and when the ants begin to lay and the meal worms to hatch 
broods in the spring they will be turned loose. It is intended to 
import a lot of mockingbirds and cardinal birds from the East | 
and South next spring. They will be only a few days on the way 
and wtll iDe turned out as soon as they arrive, and so should be in 
good condition. Oregon has been known as the land of big ap- 
ples and red-cheeked §irls, and of late has been a land flowing 
with milk and buttermilk and honey. Hereafter the land will be 
filled with the notes of the sweet songsters of many lands. The 
mockingbirds will sing all day and the nightingale all night, and , 
the air will be filled with music. , 
All communications intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., Nert 
York, and not to uiy individual connected with the paper. 
i 
