98 NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 



passed before the last of November. A heavy snowfall on 

 December 6th brought immense numbers, both stags and 

 does coming together in one great rush. Unfortunately, I 

 just missed the sight, and therefore cannot give any first- 

 hand information. A late season is most unsatisfactory, 

 because the stags lose their horns very early, the big stags 

 seldom carrying theirs later than the middle of November. 

 By the end of that month the migration, under ordinary 

 conditions, should be practically at an end. Stragglers 

 may continue to come for several weeks later, but, unless 

 the weather is unusually mild, one cannot expect to see 

 any large number after December ist. In the autumn of 

 1912 — an exceptional season — conditions prevailed which 

 caused the animals to act as they have seldom been 

 known to do. Not only did the migration start very 

 much earlier, as already mentioned, but it lasted only 

 about two weeks, which is quite unusual for an early 

 season. The guides refused to believe that the great mass 

 of Caribou had passed before October 2 1 st ; they even 

 laughed at me for suggesting such a thing ; they had never 

 known it to happen before, therefore it was not possible. 

 In vain did I tell them that the immense numbers which 

 had passed over the region where I was working represented 

 most, if not all, the animals that could be expected to pass 

 during the whole season. I suggested that they should take 

 their camps southward, following the herds rather than going 

 to meet them as they usually did, in order that they 

 would be in the vicinity of their game when the shooting 

 season opened. This advice was disregarded, but I 

 subsequently heard that scarcely any of the hunting parties 

 that went to meet the migration were lucky, while those 

 who went south of the railroad had good sport. 



All of this goes to show how uncertain arc the ways of 



