Dog Sledging in the North 



less animals on the face of the earth. They 

 seem to be always on the move. Unlike the 

 moose, they are very inquisitive, in this respect 

 being more like the antelope than any other 

 animal. They are found singly, or in twos or 

 threes, or in small bunches of ten to twenty, 

 but often in great herds of a hundred or per- 

 haps a thousand. They spend a great deal of 

 their time on the lakes in the winter, where 

 they play with each other like kittens. They 

 are wonderfully quick in their actions. They 

 are also very sure of their footing, and we saw 

 a number of places in the snow where they 

 had slid down quite steep rocks for some dis- 

 tance, probably by putting their four feet close 

 together. Great herds often come down from 

 the region on the western shore of Hudson 

 Bay and return the following summer. 



Very few people have any idea of the im- 

 mense numbers of caribou which are found in 

 the great tract of country to the west of Hud- 

 son Bay. By many who are familiar with 

 this country they are believed to be as numer- 

 ous as the buffaloes ever were in the early 

 days. When more or less scarce, as they 

 were during the greater portion of our hunt, 

 they afford excellent hunting ; but I should 



J47 



