MATING 45 



down to the lower country north of Grand Lake. As a rule 

 it is impossible to count upon a big southerly trek much 

 before October 23rd, frequently very much later, as described 

 in the chapter on migration. Whether it was the early 

 snowfall, or some unknown cause, I cannot of course say for 

 certain, but the result, which interested me more than 

 the cause, was that on October 4th several hundred Caribou 

 coming along the great migration leads appeared suddenly 

 only a few miles east of Sandy River, where I was devoting 

 my time to studying the works of beaver. Careful 

 examination of these herds showed pretty clearly that the 

 mating season was still a week or two away. The stags 

 showed scarcely any spirit of restlessness, in fact I was much 

 surprised to find that they were distributed among the does 

 without attracting the slightest attention, and there were 

 several full-grown ones to each herd. As the weather was 

 rather warm, the animals were somewhat lazy, spending much 

 of their time lying down and sleeping. Occasionally a young 

 stag, whose passions were beginning to develop, would be- 

 come restless and walk slowly among the herd, but the 

 larger stags paid not the slightest attention to the disturbance. 

 They slept on in peaceful security. The stags' horns were 

 practically clear of velvet, only a very few showing trace ot 

 the dried shreds still adhering to the horn and blowing 

 scarecrow-fashion in the wind. Many of the does, however, 

 were still in the full velvet. 



It was quite evident that if I wished to see much of the 

 animals, I must move camp further up Sandy River in order 

 to be directly in the line of travel, for it was more than 

 likely that the greater part of the herds which would pass 

 through the district on their way south had already left the 

 northern hills, and was collecting on the open marshes 

 preparatory to the usual southerly migration. Here, then. 



