lOO NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 



grow, so he must not denude his pastures, though this 

 would seem to be impossible, owing to the abundance of the 

 different mosses which furnish the necessary nourishment. 

 But whether this is the cause of his restlessness, I cannot 

 say ; there must be some reason for his roving habits. 



Unfortunately, I have never visited Newfoundland during 

 the winter months, and so all I write about this season is 

 only the result of conversation with the trappers and guides. 

 They tell me that the Caribou are found in herds numbering 

 anywhere from half-a-dozen animals to several hundred, the 

 larger herds being most often found during the severe winter 

 storms when the snow lies deep on the ground for weeks in 

 succession. Unlike the Moose, which "yards," the Caribou, 

 so far as I can learn, keep more or less on the move, going 

 from one valley to another in their everlasting search for 

 food. In this way the winter is passed, and as the snow 

 melts they begin the northward journey, not in concerted 

 action or in large herds, but slowly in straggling twos and 

 threes. They do not appear to be in any hurry, for there is 

 no dread of being caught by winter's awful storms. The 

 does, heavy in fawn, are anxious to reach their summer 

 homes where they may bring forth their young in a region 

 of plenty, above the flat lands where floods might injure the 

 fawns ; and so, during the months of April and May, slowly- 

 travelling Caribou may be seen repassing, on the leads over 

 which they had hurried in the autumn. 



No longer is the stag a mighty, overpowering beast 

 with spreading horns, or a spent creature following 

 patiently the lead of the does. No longer has he the 

 smooth, new, heavy coat of dazzling white and grey. 

 He is a different creature. He is quiet and hornless, 

 his light-coloured coat is rough and shaggy ; the long hair 

 which has kept him warm during the bitter cold is no longer 



