440 B. R, Ross on the A7iimals 



are two sizes of this article, the larger being used for barring 

 sleds and for the foot-lacing of snow-shoes, the smaller as a species 

 of thread for sewing leather, for the fine netting of snow- 

 shoes, and for lacing fishing and beaver nets. 



The Buffalo. — (^Bos Americanus.) 



The Strong-wood variety, which comes so far north and east as 

 about 20 miles from the mouth of Little Buffalo River, near Fort 

 Resolution, Great Slave Lake, is found most numerously, in the 

 vicinity of the salt plains of Salt River. It is unknown through- 

 out the country inhabited by any of the Slave tribes, and the 

 point mentioned above may be considered as its furthest limits. 

 It is of larger size than the plain variety, of darker color, and more 

 thickly furred. The Chipewyans eat its flesh and make robes and 

 parchment from the hides. The horns are"made into powder-flasks 

 and are used for mounting knives and awls ; the tail mounted on 

 a wooden shank, ornamented with goose or porcupine quills, is 

 used as a fly-flapper. From its scarcity this animal does not con- 

 tribute materially to the tribes under consideration. 

 The Musk Ox. — [Ovibos moschatus,) 



This small but powerful animal is an inhabitant of the Barren- 

 grounds and Arctic coast, from 61*^ IS". It frequents wild, rocky 

 situations, and possesses the agility of the antelope, between which 

 and the buflfalo it appears to form a connecting link. During 

 the winter it feeds on lichens and in the summer on grass. From 

 its remote habit it is of little service to the Chipewyan tribes, and 

 though the Yellow-knives, Dog-ribs and Hare Indians sometimes 

 hunt it, yet as it is very fierce and the flesh is strongly impregnated 

 with the flavor of musk, it is not much looked after. The calf- 

 skins make excellent robes and caps, but the adult hides are 

 almost too hairy for any purpose of that sort. The tails are made 

 into fly-flappers similar to those obtained from the same part of 

 the bufl*alo. 



The Mountain Goat. — [A2)locerus montanus.) 



Is found throughout all the mountain ranges of this District to 

 within a short distance of the Polar Sea, if indeed it does not 

 reach it. It is a larger animal than the domestic goat, which it 

 resembles only in name and in having a beard. It is covered 

 with lon<r and rather brittle white hairs, beneath which a coat of 

 very fine white curly woollies close to the skin. The flesh, though 

 rank, is fat and tender, and is much relished by the Mountain 



