CHAP. xin. THE CARIBOU. 215 



grounds after the lapse of the same period. In April, 

 as soon as the snow begins to get soft, they migrate 

 towards the quarters where they intend to pass the 

 summer, travelling always at night. During the day they 

 rest or feed chiefly on the moss which bears their name. 



In Forester's ' Game in its Season,' the author gives a 

 very lively description of the caribou, having reference to 

 this species. He states that as regards the nature of the 

 pelage, or fur for it is almost such of the caribou, so far 

 from its being remarkable for closeness and compactness, 

 it is by all odds the loosest and longest haired of any deer 

 he ever saw, being, particularly about the head and neck, 

 so shaggy as to appear almost maned. 



' In colour it is the most grizzly of deer, and though 

 comparatively dark brown on the back, the hide is, 

 generally speaking, light, almost dun-coloured, and on the 

 head and neck fulvous, or tawny grey, largely mixed 

 with white hairs. 



4 The flesh is said to be delicious, and the leather made 

 by the Indians from its skin, by their peculiar process, is 

 of unsurpassed excellence for leggings, moccasins, or the 

 like, especially for the moccasin to be used under snow- 

 shoes. 



' As to its habits, while the Lapland or Siberian rein- 

 deer is the tamest and most docile of its genus, the 

 American caribou is the fiercest, fleetest, wildest, shyest, 

 and most untameable. So much so, that they are rarely 

 pursued by white hunters or shot by them except through 

 casual good fortune ; Indians alone having the patience 

 and instinctive craft which enable them to crawl on them 

 unseen, unsmelt : for the nose of the caribou can detect 



