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The Drama of the Forests - Romance and Adventure by Arthur Henry Howard Heming
page 265 of 368 (72%)
that spoils the meat, because the moose is naturally a rather inactive
animal that lives on a small range and travels very little; but it is
quite different with the caribou, for the caribou is naturally an
active animal, a great traveller, that wanders far for its food, and to
pursue it on the run only improves the flavour and the texture of its
meat."


OLD-TIME HUNTING

After supper, as we sat in the comfortable glow of the fire, we talked
much of old-time hunting, for in certain parts of the Great Northern
Forest many of the ancient methods are practised to-day. Fire is often
made by friction; many hunters still use the bow and arrow, while
others use the flintlock gun; frequently, too, they rely upon their
spears; bone knives and awls as well as stone axes are still applied to
work; fish nets are yet woven from the inner bark of cedar; and still
to-day wooden baskets and birch-bark rogans are used for the purpose of
heating water and boiling food. Notwithstanding our far over-rated
civilization the natives in some sections are dressed to-day in
clothing entirely derived from the forest.

One of the most ancient methods of hunting and one which is still in
vogue in some remote localities is the "drive." Two famous places for
drive hunting in olden days were Point Carcajou on Peace River, and the
Grand Detour on Great Slave River. The former driving ground was about
thirty miles long by about three miles across, while the latter was
about fifteen miles long by about three miles across. The mode of
hunting was for a party of Indians to spread out through the woods, and
all, at an appointed time, to move forward toward a certain point, and
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