1900] Setox-Thompson — Rangifer Dawsoni. 259 



" The Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands have evidently 

 long employed the antlers of the native Caribou for the manufacture 

 cf various implements, clubs, etc., as some of the oldest of these 

 in our collections are of that material, which was evidently prized. 

 These Indians are not jj-reat hunters and in fact dislike going- into 

 the interior of this island and on the higher ground where the small 

 bands of Caribou occur. 



"You will notice from my remarks above quoted that these 

 animals must in all probability have been a lonp time entirely sep- 

 arated from any others, and I should think it highly probable with 

 an animal so variable as the Caribou that they may have developed 

 considerable peculiarities." 



A fortnight later I was in Victoria, Vancouver Id., and had an 

 interview with Mr.W. Charles, at his home on Fort St. Mr. Charles 

 was Hudson Bay Co. 's factor at Victoria for years, and the Queen 

 Charlotte Islands came within his official district. He informed me 

 that while visiting at Masset in the north end of Graham Island, he 

 several times heard reports that Caribou were found on the island. 

 But the Indians never brought any in, for they have a superstitious 

 dread of the interior and of the west coast, where the Caribou are 

 found. They believe that if they go there they will be devoured 

 by some fabulous monster that comes up from the sea. At best 

 they are poor hunters, and rarely think about the chase when they 

 can get a meal of fish. One day in 1882 (?) when Mr. Charles 

 went as far as the west slope of the mountains on the Pacific side 

 he noticed a great extent of beautiful level upland pastures, and 

 remarked that if there are any Caribou on this island this is the 

 place to look for them. Accordingly Mr. Alex. Mackenzie, an ex- 

 employee of the Hudson's Bay Co., set out with some Si wash 

 Indians and found near the place a large herd of Caribou, and 

 opened fire on them. The first to fall had only one horn. 

 They brought its skin and skull to Mr. Charles, who states that 

 the skin was of a mouse colour and the animal too small for the 

 Woodland Caribou, and too dark to be the arctic species. He is 

 of the opftiion that it is closely related to the Barren Ground 

 Caribou. The skin was destroyed, but the fragmentary skull with 

 its one horn was deposited in the Provincial Museum of Victoria, 

 B.C. 



