A STRETCH OF OPEN MARSH. 73 



three were hornless, but the fourth had small 

 horns. 



The ease and rapidity with which these 

 animals traversed a stretch of open marsh 

 whilst we watched them were most remarkable. 

 They seemed to glide over the surface without 

 sinking in at aU, and got along so quickly that 

 no human being, I imagine, could have over- 

 taken them, for in the wet bogs of Newfoundland 

 you cannot run, and may rather be said to wade 

 than to walk. 



Neither horse, ox, nor ass can traverse these 

 marshes at all, as they sink in and get bogged 

 immediately, but the feet of the caribou are 

 specially adapted for walking in soft ground, 

 as not only can the broad, rounded hoofs be 

 splayed out very wide apart and made to cover 

 a large surface, but the false hoofs are also 

 specially developed in order to assist in bearing 

 up the animal's weight. 



On our way back to camp we came on two 

 caribou feeding in a small marsh surrounded 

 by forest. They were a stag and a doe, and 

 the former looked a fine large animal. I crept 



