Caribou 



199 



which it resides, and that on ice it has naturally an advantage 

 similar to that obtained artificially by the skaters. In winter 

 time the frog is entirely absorbed, and the edges of the hoof, 

 now quite concave, grow out in thin, sharp ridges, each division 

 on the under surface presenting the appearance of a huge 

 mussel shell. The frog is absorbed by the latter end of Novem- 

 ber, when the lakes are frozen; the shell grows with great rapid- 



Fig. S8 — Right hind-foot of Newfoundland Caribou. 

 From specimen No. 414, Field Museum, half natural size. Specimen taken m September, so that the frog is not yet absorbed. 



ity, and the frog does not fill up again till spring, when the 

 antlers bud out. With this singular conformation of the foot, 

 its great lateral spread, and the additional assistance afforded 

 in maintaining a foothold on slippery surfaces, by the long, 

 stiff bristles which grow downward from the fetlock, curving 

 upward underneath between the divisions, the Caribou is 

 enabled to proceed over crusted snow, to cross frozen lakes, or 

 ascend or descend icy precipices, with an ease which places 

 him beyond the reach of all pursuers." 



F. Forester says,^^ in his vivid description of the Caribou's 

 flight: "Snow-shoes against him alone avail little, for, 

 propped up on the broad, natural snow-shoe of his long, elastic 



" Henry William Herbert [" Frank Forester"], American Game in its Seasons, 1853, 

 pp. 29-30. 



