From an economic or commercial point of view, the reindeer is highly prized. By the Laplanders and other people it is domesticated, and takes the place of the horse, the dog, the cow or the goat of other countries. As a traveller it is swift and enduring, being capable of hauling from two to three hundred pounds upon a sled, as much as one hundred miles per day; and as compared with the dog, it possesses the great advantage of being able to obtain its food by the way.
As a source of venison it cannot be excelled, especially in the autumn season, when it is in prime condition. During September and October the males are rolling fat; and as food their flesh is then equal to the finest beef. Of all meats I have ever tasted, certainly reindeer tongues take the first place for daintiness and delicacy of flavor.
From the skins of the reindeer the natives of the Arctic regions make almost every article of winter clothing. For this purpose it is most admirably suited, both because of its great warmth and its remarkable lightness. Through different methods of tanning and dressing it is made adaptable to a great variety of other uses. Sewing thread, lashing twine and other strong lines are also made from sinew obtained from along the spine of this animal.
What the buffalo was to the North American Indian in days gone by, the reindeer is now to the Eskimos and other natives of the north country.
CHAPTER VII.
A GREAT FROZEN LAKE.
Before leaving “Reindeer Camp” a cairn of rocks was built on the top of an immense boulder, conspicuously situated on the summit of a point reaching out into the waters of Carey Lake. A record of our journey to date was placed in it, and the “flag that for a thousand years has braved the battle and the breeze,” left floating overhead.
On the 2nd of August the journey was resumed, and during the day a remarkable grove was found on the north shore of the lake, in latitude 62° 15′ north. As a whole the country was now a treeless, rocky wilderness, but here by a little brook grew a clump of white spruce trees, perhaps thirty in all, of which the largest measured eight feet in circumference at two feet above ground. Such a trunk would be considered unusually large in a forest a thousand miles to the south, but here it and its fellows stood far out in the Barren Grounds with their gnarly, storm-beaten tops, like veritable Druids of old.
In this grove many varieties of plants were found—among others wood violets, which were here seen for the last time on the trip. Not the least enjoyable feature of this little oasis was that it afforded us an opportunity of having a good noon-day fire, which of late had been a rare luxury.
Pushing out our canoes, we continued the traverse of the coast to the westward in search of the Telzoa, but it could not be found that day.