[ HUNTING.]
I have already described the methods of hunting the reindeer and of capturing small game.
The beaver is not plentiful in the Ungava district, and not until the headwaters of the Koksoak and the lakes near the source of George’s river are reached are they to be found at all, excepting occasional stragglers.
The Indians have few of the skins of this animal to sell at the trading post of Fort Chimo.
The methods of capture differ in some respects from those elsewhere employed.
The habits of the beaver are so well known that a statement of their manner of life is unnecessary.
The food supply north of latitude 55° is so limited in quality and quantity that the scarcity of the animals is due entirely to the absence of the food necessary for their existence.
When the dams and structures made by the beaver are discovered the people devise means to capture it.
If it is convenient to get at the holes leading to the structure, which are always under water so deep that it will not freeze to the bottom, they are closed with a stick of wood and an opening made in the top of the hut. The animal is then caught by the hind legs or tail and lifted out. It seldom attempts to defend itself at first. As soon as the hunter can do so he jerks the animal out, and with a blow on its head kills it. If he should pause for an instant from the time the hand is put on the animal until the death blow is given, that very instant he certainly will be bitten with teeth so sharp and powerful that the fingers may be snipped from the hand as though with a pair of shears. The wound thus inflicted is often very severe and difficult to heal, as the bite is not only cutting but crushing.
Where the water can be drained from the pond or lake in which the beavers’ hut is built, the Indians often leave it high and dry by damming off the supply and allowing the water to drain away. As soon as the house is out of water the occupant emerges and is killed. Beavers are sometimes shot while sporting on the water during moonlight nights.