MIGRATIONS 8i 



natural causes or by the dams built by beavers. The roads 

 made and used by the Caribou prove that they have been 

 in use for countless years. In some places the rocks are 

 worn away to a depth of one or two feet by the thousands 

 and thousands of hoofs which have passed over them, each 

 hoof wearing away its minute particle, just as drops of 

 water will gradually eat into even the hardest stone. Over 

 the softer barrens, the paths, though equally distinct, are far 

 more numerous, as the herds do not always travel in single 

 file ; to do so would cut into the soft bog and the trail would 

 very soon be converted into a stream, for water abounds 

 almost everywhere on the island. So it is that the barrens 

 on the line of the migration are cut up by the innumerable 

 paths which converge where the land becomes harder, or in 

 the immediate vicinity of a river-bank where the deep-cut 

 paths are conspicuous. Through the forests the leads, 

 though clearly defined, are very devious, for if a tree blows 

 across the path it causes the animals to swing to the right 

 or left, with the result that the following of a Caribou road 

 causes one to twist and turn, until one's sense of direction 

 becomes very much confused, and it is a clever man 

 indeed who can follow the same trail twice. 



How the stags with their large horns ever make their 

 way through the dense tangled woods is very difficult to 

 understand, for a man has all he can do to get through by 

 twisting, bending, and even crawling ; yet the Caribou 

 seem to experience absolutely no difficulty. They keep up 

 their rapid walk, and pass through the thickest forest 

 scarcely making a sound, unless they happen to be 

 frightened, in which event they sometimes crash through, 

 making a frightful commotion, scarcely even following the 

 leads — each animal going along regardless of his com- 

 panions, all bent only on escaping the object of their fear. 



