BY WAY OF EXPLANATION 3 



company of the Canada jays, the Caribou, the beaver and 

 the wild barrens and forests, I have been as nearly happy 

 as man can ever be. 



Usually entirely alone I have wandered through the 

 country, going quietly that I might see the animals 

 undisturbed and free from the fear of man, and, as I have 

 not used or carried fire-arms while on these trips, excep- 

 tionally good opportunities have been offered for obser- 

 vation. For hours at a time have I crawled among the 

 unsuspicious Caribou, watching their behaviour while they 

 slept, fed and in other ways led their natural life without the 

 sound of the rifle to fill them with fear. This work has 

 supplied me with much material, not only in the way of 

 photographs and facts for this book, but also for my paintings. 

 In some ways the photographs form perhaps the most 

 valuable part of the material, for in them we have indis- 

 putable evidence of the animal's form and action ; so that, 

 should the day come, as it possibly may, when the New- 

 foundland Caribou ceases to exist in its wild and natural 

 condition, there will at least be the pictures to show to those 

 who will then be living. 



Unfortunately, the value of wild-animal photographs is 

 not thoroughly realised. Were there even a fair appre- 

 ciation of what they represent, museums or private individuals 

 who have the means would take steps to ensure proper 

 collections of pictures of some of the vanishing animals, 

 and of those which, though now so abundant, may not 

 endure very long under the rapid strides of civilization. As 

 it is, the work falls on the very few whose keen interest in 

 the animals is so great that they devote their lives to collect- 

 ing such photographic records without, as a rule, the hope 

 that they can ever pay the expenses of the actual work. 

 Such work does not entail large outlays when the results are 



B 2 



