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I stood and thought, "When Wallace comes here be will not know my trail from the caribou trail; and if he cannot come to me to-night, if he follow the caribou trail it might lead him out of the way altogether; and if it snows again to-night I may not be able to find him in the morning." So I stayed till he came and told him why I waited for him.
The adiky, with its fur-trimmed hood, took the place of the jacket, soon to be augmented by sealskin netseks or caribou skin kulutuks. "The Bay's smokin'," David announced one evening as he came in after feeding the dogs. "She'll soon freeze now."
"We're after game ourselves, as well as timber, but legislation is already in progress to stop the indiscriminate slaughter of the fast disappearing moose and caribou. Five hundred dollars is the fine to be imposed for any infringement of the law, once passed." Pierre's jaw dropped.
The jerked venison was gone and the only food remaining was the bear meat. A hurried consultation was held, and it was decided to push on still farther to the northward in the hope of meeting the invisible herds of caribou that somewhere in those limitless, frozen barrens were wandering unmolested.
There had been a fall of dry snow that still lay deep and powdery over all the woods, too light to settle or crust. At every step one had to lift a shovelful of the stuff on the point of his snowshoe; and I was tired out, following some caribou that wandered like plover in the rain. Just below me was a deep open pool surrounded by double fringes of ice.
The scent of flesh and blood was in his nose, and he was too hungry to control himself much longer. I cut a good club with my big jack-knife, and, watching my chance, threw off the caribou head and jumped for him as he crouched in the snow. He leaped aside untouched, but crouched again instantly, showing all his teeth, snarling horribly. Three times I swung at him warily.
The quicker the public mind north of Wrangel is disabused of that idea, the better. Its game belongs to the people of this nation of ninety-odd millions, and it is a safe prediction that the ninety millions will not continue to be willing that the miners, prospectors and Indians shall continue to live on moose meat and caribou tongues in order to save bacon and beef. Mr.
At 7.30 A. M., August 24, 1907, surrounded by scattering Caribou, we pushed off from our camp at Sand Hill Bay and began the return journey. At Wolf-den Point we discovered a large and ancient wolf-den in the rocks; also abundance of winter sign of Musk-ox.
The moose and caribou had fed since early dawn, and were resting quietly in the warmth of the February sun; the lynx was curled away in his niche between the great rocks, waiting for the sun to sink farther into the north and west before resuming his marauding adventures; the fox was taking his midday slumber and the restless moose-birds were fluffing themselves lazily in the warm glow that was beginning to melt the snows of late winter.
When bands of caribou are met in winter they are driven into deep snow banks, and, unable to help themselves, are speared at will. Of course when the killing is a large one the flesh of all the animals cannot be preserved, and frequently only the tongues are used.
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