Part 22 (2/2)
”There wasn't ht call it a 'bird-adventure' too, for if it hadn't been for a bird I shouldn't have had it I shot a deer--that's all But maybe it would be curious for you to kno I came to find the ani I did after leaving here was to cli hill that sloped up from the opposite shore of the lake, and which was the direction he had taken, as Basil and Francois had gone right and left
I saw neither bird, beast, nor track, until I had reached the top of the hill There I got a good view of the country ahead I saas very rocky, without a stick of tioing that way,” I says to one He et a crack at it, as it comes over the hill
”I was about to turn to the left when I heard the skreek of a bird away ahead of h, saw one wheeling about in the air, right above the rocky juhty curious bird that I saw It's a sort of an owl, but, I should sayof the hawk in it--for it's as much like the one as the other”
”No doubt,” interrupted Lucien, ”it was one of the day owls of these Northern regions, some of which approach very near to the hawks, both in shape and habits This peculiarity arises fro summer day--of weeks in duration--within the Arctic circle, requiring them to hunt for their prey, just as hawks do; and therefore Nature has gifted them with certain peculiarities that make them resee tufted heads of the true owls; besides the ears, which in the latter are re operculated, or with lids, in the forer than in other birds of prey The sether a Northern bird, is one of this kind”
”Very well,” continued Norman, ”what you say may be very true, cousin Luce; I only know that the bird I ahty curious little creature It ain't bigger than a pigeon, and is of a mottled brown colour; but what I call it curious for is this:--Whenever it sees any creature passing from place to place, itup a constant screeching, like the squalling of a child--and that's anything but agreeable It does so, not only in the neighbourhood of its nest--like the plover and so party for hours together, and for miles across the country”
From this circumstance the Indians of these parts call it the ”alar,” because it often makes theers Soa up to it; and I have known it to bother rouse
It's a great favourite with the Indians though--as it often guides the above where these aniuided me I knew, fro a the rocks I couldn't tell what, but I hoped it would turn out to be soed my intention, and struck out for the place where it was
It was a good halfover the rocks, before I reached the ground I thought to get near enough to see what it ithout drawing the bird upon myself, and I crouched froht ofover ed to go round soe rocks, I lost the direction, and soon foundback into , therefore, until the bird should leaveIn order that itstone that jutted out, and lay quiet a bit, watching it It soon flew off, and co about in the air, not more than three hundred yards fros, and then went on I did not care for the bird to guide er, for I observed there was an open spot ahead, and I was sure that there I could see so round the end of a rock, I spied a herd of about fifty deer
They were reindeer, of course, as there are no others upon the 'Barren Grounds,' and I saw they were all does--for at this season the bucks keep altogether in the woods Soet at theoff the lichens with their teeth It so happened that I had the wind of them, else they would have scented me and made off, for I ithin a hundred yards of the nearest I was not afraid of their taking fright, so long as they could only see part of my body--for these deer are so stupid, or rather so curious, that al this, I practised a trick that had often helped un, up and doith the same sort oftheir necks against a rock or tree If I'd had a set of antlers, it would have been all the better; but the other answered well enough It happened the animals were not very wild, as, likely, they hadn't been hunted for a good while I bellowed at the same time,--for I kno to iot several of thee Then I took aim, and knocked one over, and the rest ran off ”That,” said Norood hundred pounds weight of deer-meat all the way back to camp part of it If so, I can assure you that it was by far the most unpleasant part”
Here Norman finished his narration, and a conversation was carried on upon the subject of reindeer, or, as these animals are termed, in America, ”caribou”
Lucien said that the reindeer is found in the Northern regions of Europe and Asia as well as in America, but that there were several varieties of them, and perhaps there were different species Those of Lapland are es, but also furnish food, clothing, and many other cousians have a er sort, which they ride upon; and the Koreki, ell upon the borders of Kamschatka, possess vast herds of reindeer--so as many as ten or twenty thousand!
It is not certain that the reindeer of America is exactly the same as either of the kinds mentioned; and indeed in America itself there are two very distinct kinds--perhaps a third Two kinds are well known, that differ from each other in size, and also in habits One is the ”Barren Ground caribou,” and the other, the ”Woodland caribou” The forhing little over one hundred pounds As its nah in winter it also seeks the shelter of wooded tracts Upon the Barren Grounds, and the desolate shores and islands of the Arctic Sea, it is the only kind of deer found, except at one or two points, as the mouth of the Mackenzie River--which happens to be a wooded country, and there the ifted the Barren Ground caribou with such tastes and habits, that a fertile country and a genial clime would not be a pleasant home for it It seems adapted to the bleak, sterile countries in which it dwells, and where its favourite food--the mosses and lichens--is found In the short sues still farther north; and its traces have been found wherever the Northern navigators have gone Itthe icy islands of the Arctic Sea until winter be considerably advanced, or until the sea is so frozen as to allow it to get back to the shores of the continent
The ”Woodland caribou” is a larger variety--a Woodland doe being about as big as a Barren Ground buck--although the horns of the latter species are larger andthan those of the former The Woodland kind are found around the shores of Hudson's Bay, and in other wooded tracts that lie in the southern parts of the fur countries--into which the Barren Ground caribou never penetrates They also rations are southward, while, at the sa their way northward to the shores of the Arctic Sea This is a very singular difference in their habits, and along with their difference in bulk, form, &c, entitles them to be ranked as separate species of deer
The flesh of the Woodland caribou is not esteeood an article of food as that of the other; and, as it inhabits a district where e animals are found, it is not considered of so much importance in the economy of human life The ”Barren Ground caribou,” on the other hand, is an indispensable animal to various tribes of Indians, as well as to the Esquimaux Without it, these people would be unable to dhere they do; and although they have not doht, like the Laplanders, it forms their main source of subsistence, and there is no part of its body which they do not turn to some useful purpose
Of its horns they form their fish-spears and hooks, and, previous to the introduction of iron by the Europeans, their ice-chisels and various other utensils Their scraping or currying knives are made fro, tent-covers, beds, and blankets The raw hide, cleared of the hair and cut into thongs, serves for snares, bow-strings, net-lines, and every other sort of ropes The finer thongsfor snow-shoes--an indispensable article to these people--and of these thongs fish-nets are also woven; while the tendons of the -thread
Besides these uses, the flesh of the caribou is the food of many tribes, Indians and Esquimaux, for most of the year; and, indeed, it may be looked upon as their staple article of subsistence
There is hardly any part of it (even the horns, when soft) that is not eaten and relished by them Were it not for the immense herds of these creatures that roam over the country, they would soon be exterminated--for they are easily approached, and the Indians have very little difficulty, during the su as ave a description of the variousthe caribou practised by the Indians and Esqui theular hich the Esqui them in a pit-trap built in the snow
”The sides of the trap,” said he, ”are built of slabs of snow, cut as if to make a snow-house An inclined plane of snow leads to the entrance of the pit, which is about five feet deep, and large enough within to hold several deer The exterior of the trap is banked up on all sides with snow; but so steep are these sides left, that the deer can only get up by the inclined plane which leads to the entrance A great slab of snow is then placed over the mouth of the pit, and revolves on two axles of wood This slab will carry the deer until it has passed the line of the axles, when its weight overbalances one side, and the animal is precipitated into the pit The slab then comes back into a horizontal position as before, and is ready to receive another deer The animals are attracted by moss and lichens placed for them on the opposite side of the trap--in such a way that they cannot be reached without crossing the slab In this sort of trap several deer are frequently caught during a single day”
Nor practised by the Esquimaux, and proposed that the party should proceed in search of the herd upon the following day; when, should they succeed in finding the deer, he would show the able to reed to this proposal, as it would be of great ie number of these anih to serve for several days--but there were perhaps months, not days, to be provided for They believed that they could not be far from the wooded countries near the banks of the Mackenzie, as some kinds of the ani the winter season But what of that? Even on the banks of the great river itself they ame They resolved, therefore, to track the herd of deer which Norreed to make a stay of some days at their present camp