78 The Woodland Caribou, 



The dimensions of this specimen were as follows : — Length from nose io 

 root of tail, 6 feet ; length of tail, 4 inches ; height of shoulder, 3 feet 6 in- 

 ches ; width between the eyes, 5^ inches ; length from point of nose to lower 

 canthus of eye, 9 inches ; from point of nose to the ear, 1 foot 2 inches ; 

 height of ear, 5 inches." 



The height of a full grown animal of this species is four feet and a 

 half, and the weight of its carcass, without the entrails, 300 pounds. It 

 appears to be an exceedingly shy animal, seldom frequenting the fields, but 

 confining itself to the swamps or marshy plains in the winter, where there 

 is an abundance of moss and small shrubs upon which it feeds, " The cari- 

 bou," says a writer in the same work, " is famous for its swiftness, and 

 has various gaits, walking, trotting or gallopping alike gracefully and 

 and rapidly. By many people these animals are, in fact, thought to be 

 much fleeter than the moose, and they are said to take extraordinary leaps. 



When pursued, the caribou immediately makes for a swamp, and fol- 

 lows the margin, taking at times to the water and again footing it over the 

 firm ground, and sometimes turning towards the nearest mountain, crosses 

 it by another morass. If hard pressed by the hunters, (who now and then 

 follow up the chase for four or five days) the animal ascends to the highest 

 peaks of the mountains for security, and the pursuit becomes very fatiguing 

 and uncertain. Upon one occasion, two men followed several caribou for a 

 whole week, when, completely tired out, they gave up the chase, which 

 was then continued by two other hunters, who at last succeeded in killing a 

 couple of the animals at long shot. Sometimes, however, fresh tracks are 

 found, and the caribou is surprised whilst lying down or browsing, and shot 

 on the spot. When the snow is not deep, and the lakes are covered with 

 ice only, the animal, if closely pursued, makes for one of them and runs 

 over the ice so fast that it is unable to stop if struck with alarm at any ob- 

 ject presenting itself in front, and it then suddenly squats down on its 

 haunches and slides along in that ludicrous position until the impetus being 

 exhausted, it rises again and makes off in some other direction. When the 

 caribou takes to the ice the hunter always gives up the chase. Sometimes, 

 when the mouth and throat of a fresh killed caribou are examined, they are 

 found to be filled with a blackish looking mucus, resembling thin mud, but 

 which appears to be only a portion of the partially decomposed black 

 mosses upon which it fed, probably forced into the throat and mouth of the 

 animal in its dying agonies. 



"■ When overtaken in the chase, the caribou stands at bay, and shows 

 fight, and when thus brought to a stand still will not pay much attention to 

 the hunters, so that he can approach and shoot them with ease." 



If we are to believe what is stated of the speed and powers of endu- 

 rance of the European reindeer, to which the caribou is so closely allied 

 that naturalists were long in doubt as to the propriety of separating it as a 

 distinct species, then it is easy to understand that the hunting of this animal 

 must be a laborious undertaking. Journies of one hundred and fifty miles 

 in twenty hours art said to be a common performance of the domesticated 



