24 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. [no. 19. 



the recent iiiHux of pro.spectors. At the l)egiiining of the Klondike 

 rush, it wjis not uncommon for a l)Jirty to secure one or two moose 

 while descending the river, but such is rarely the case at present. 

 Our party failed to see any, though w^e spent nearly three months in 

 the region; duiing this time we heard of but two animals being 

 killed, one near the foot of Lake Lebarge and another on upper 

 Charlie Creek, a short distance above Circle; both were secured by 

 Indians. We saw comparative!}^ few fresh tracks. 



In winter, moose meat is the staple diet of both Indians and whites 

 and has readily sold in the mining camps at $1 to $2 per pound. Such 

 a price, even in this country of high wages, has l)een a great incentive 

 to hunting, and many a miner has left his claim to pursue the moose. 

 The hides also are a source of prolit, particularly to the Indians, who 

 tan them and make them into mittens and moccasins. What the Indians 

 do not need they sell readily to miners and prospectors. It is dif- 

 ficult to estimate the number of animals that have been killed, but it 

 must be ver}^ large, for the demand has been steady and a comparatively 

 large population has been supplied with meat. On one hunt, an ac- 

 count of which has been given by Tappan Adney,^ 44 moose were 

 killed in about one month, and a single party of Indians was credited 

 with a total of 80 moose and 65 caribou in one Avinter. 



Ovis dalli (Nelson). Dall Mountain Sheep. 



Most of the specimens of the Dall sheep which have reached our 

 museums were secured in the vicinity of Cook Inlet, but the animal 

 occurs in nearly all the high mountains of Alaska, and in the north 

 ranges to the Arctic coast. Since we were at a distance from the 

 mountains during the greater part of our trip, I was unal)le to secure 

 much information in regard to the distribution of the species. Sheep 

 are said to occur about the West Arm of Lake Bennett, and Windy Arm 

 of Lake Tagish. A prospector with whom I talked at Lake Tagish 

 said he had seen and killed them at both of these places. Lake Bennett 

 is not far from the type locality of 0. stonei, and it is possible that 

 this species occurs there with O. dalli. Both white and gra}' sheep 

 are reported, though all are said to be white in winter. I was told 

 that white sheep were killed some years ago on the cliffs about Lake 

 Lebarge, but I failed to find signs of them there. Prospectors at Fort 

 Selkirk say that sheep are always to be found in the mountains along 

 Pelly Kiver, particularly in the MacMillan Mountains ^ near the mouth 



' Harper's Magazine, C, 495-507, March, 1900. 



^ The sheep from the MacMillau INIouiitains are 8aid to he the ' black wlieep,' which 

 name could hardly api:)ly to 0. dalli, hut i.s the name commonly given to 0. stoneL 

 If Monc'i really does occur in these mountains the record is a very interesting one, and 

 the locality nmch farther north than any from which thesjjecies hiia been previously 

 recorded. 



