500 APPENDTX. 



sent, some very fine wapiti in the Zoological Gardens. 

 The flesh of this deer is considered as much inferior 

 to that of the bison or moose deer ; its hide makes 

 excellent dressed leather. 



There are several other species of deer, and an 

 antelope, on the prairie lands of the Saskatchewan and 

 Columbia rivers ; but the three that we have specified 

 are the only ones that interest the Indian tribes with 

 whom Captain Back had to do. The North American 

 deer are still very imperfectly known to naturalists, and 

 the specific identities of the moose deer and the elk, 

 and of the rein-deer of the new and old continents, 

 have been by no means satisfactorily established. It is 

 probable that further investigation will prove the 

 barren-ground rein-deer to be a distinct species from 

 that which inhabits the woody country. 



Rocky Mountain Goat. (Capra Americana.) F.B. A. 1. 



p. 268. 



This very interesting animal inhabits the higher parts 

 of the mountains from California up to the 65th parallel. 

 It is most remarkable for bearing a very fine wool, well 

 adapted for the manufacture of shawls. The specimens 

 that have been brought home have interested the wool- 

 staplers very much ; but it will be difficult to procure a 

 sufficient quantity for the purposes of commerce. 



Rocky Mountain Sheep. (Ovis montana Desm.) 



F.B. A. 1. p. 271. 



This animal exceeds in size every variety of the do- 

 mestic sheep, and equals any of them in the quality of its 

 mutton. It is not clothed with wool, but with a close, 



