LIFE AND HABITS 13 



their resular habit of slow wandering; from barren to 

 barren, or from hill to hill, one may easily see several 

 dozen singly or in small herds ; while if we visit the island 

 when the snow lies deep, and venture into the animals' 

 winter quarters, I am told that irregular herds numbering 

 thousands of head may be found. It must be a wonderful 

 sight — one to remember and one which I hope some day to 

 have a chance of seeing. 



Before going into the life of the Newfoundland Caribou 

 let us glance at the animal itself, for he is a stranger to 

 most people. He is known scientifically as Ra?igifer 

 tarandus^ or perhaps more specifically as Rangifer terrce 

 novce. By the general public who know the animal at all, 

 he is called a Woodland Caribou, the name being derived 

 from the Indian " maccarib," or " maccaribo," or " caribo," 

 and not as Sir John Richardson would have us believe from 

 the French " Quarre boeuf." The spelling that is now 

 used — " caribou " — dates at least as far back as 1609, when 

 it was used by Les Cabot. So much for the name which, 

 after all, is less important than the owner of it. 



As to the measurements of the Caribou (of Newfoundland) 

 I must confess myself in serious difficulty, for never having 

 actually measured one I must rely on what others say, and 

 unfortunately what they say varies considerably. This may be 

 owing to the method of making the measurements, for when 

 the animal is laid down on its side the forelegs are not in 

 a natural position as there is no weight on them; the leg, 

 therefore, should be forced upward as far as it will go, in 

 order to give the approximately correct height of the animal 

 when standing. This I believe is seldom done, hence the 

 somewhat exaggerated heights given by many writers and 

 hunters. Allowing for errors of this sort, the height of a 

 good stag may be between forty-six and forty-nine inches at the 



