"^'/it^ 



THE OTTAWA r(ATURALIST 



Vol. XIII. OTTAWA, FEBRUARY, 1900. No. 11 



RANGIFER DAWSONI. 



Preliminary Description of a New Caribou from Queen 



Charlotte's Islands. 



By Ernest Seton-Thompson. 



In August, 1899, while at Ottawa, Canada, my attention was 

 called by Dr. G. M. Dawson, of the Geological Survey, to the fact 

 that Caribou exist on the northernmost and largest island of the 

 Queen Charlotte group, and later, on my asking for fuller details, 

 he wrote me as follows : 



"When engaged in geologically surveying the Queen Char- 

 lotte Islands in the summer of 1878, I heard of this animal but did 

 not see it, and from Indian accounts came to the conclusion it 

 was the Wapiti, which as you know occurs on Vancouver Island. 

 In my report for 1878-79, p. 113B, I therefore referred to it as 

 follows : ' There is pretty good evidence to show that the Wapiti 

 occurs on the northern part of Graham, but it is very seldom 

 killed. The small Deer fC. columbianus ) is not found on the 

 islands, nor is the Wolf, Grizzly Bear, Mountain Sheep or Moun- 

 tain Goat.' 



"At a later date I ascertained that the animal in question 

 was not the Wapiti but the Caribou, from Mr. Charles, formerly 

 connected with the Hudson's Bay Co. in Victoria. He had a skin 

 of the animal, imperfect, but with horns and hoofs sufficient to 

 show its general character. 



"The only published reference I have made to the occurrence, 

 that I can remember, is in a paper on the Later Physiographical 

 Geology of the Rocky Mountain Region in Canada. Trans. Royal 



