680 PROCEEDINGS OE THE NATFOXAL MFSEUM. voi,. xxvnr. 



wooilliind s|)('('i(>s soldoin oxccmmI tliiiiy or forty iiulividuiils, except 

 ill Hie aiihiimi. when soinetiine, ({iiite a lai'u'e iiiiinhev eoiio reuute 

 toe-ellier. TlieN do not associate with (he llarreii (Jroiiiid I'eiiuleer, 

 and siddoni (luil Ihe forest (•oiinlry. Aithoiieh known to exist at no 

 great distanc(» to tlie south, we never, to my knowledu;*'. riM'cived at 

 Fort Andorson an exaniple in the flesh, e\ee})( the rihs of a few in a 

 dried state; hnt in course of uiy six years' charg-e of Fort (rood Hope 

 (latitude t)<) UV north), the Hare and Nahanni Indians frequently sup- 

 plied the establishment with a number of dressed skins and a consid- 

 erable (juantity of the venison of this aninal. A similar remark would 

 apply to my tive 3ears' residence at Fort Siiupson (latitude 02"^ north, 

 longitude 122'^ west); l)ut although the species is fairly distril)utvd 

 throughout New Caledonia district, British Columbia, we seldom 

 obtained any of its ireat or preserved skins during my two years'" 

 charge. It is not uncommon in the Athabasca and Peace River dis- 

 tricts, nor at Cuml)erlaud House, Saskatchewan, where we occasion- 

 allv received some venison and skins, while 1 was stationed there in 

 18S9 to 1S!»4. It is not improbable, however, that the variety f)f 

 w-oodland caribou found in the Rocky Mountains of northern Canada 

 may belong to the mountain caribou discovered in the Selkirk Range 

 of British Cohunbia and mad(» known to science ))y Mi-. Thom])son 

 Seton in 1S'.»1>. It is said to be darkei' in color than Elaine and other 

 eastcM'n s})ecimens. 



BARREN GROUND REINDEER. 



Rnngifer arcticux (l^it'hanl8eii) . 



Although this interesting animal has of late years been very irreg- 

 ular in frequenting ancient passes and haunts in thc^ forest country, 

 and in numbers very considerably less than formerly, v'et it is l)elieved 

 to be still very numerous in the "Mackenzie Basin."" The north(>rn 

 Indians were accustomed, in the face of repeated remonstrances on the 

 part of the company's officers and resident missionaries, to slaughter 

 thousands of reindeer annually, chietly for the skins and tongues, and 

 too often from the sheer love of killing. But as they have latterly 

 experienced protracted spells of food scarcity and e\ en actual star\'a- 

 tion, 1 believe it has taught them to be more careful and provident. 

 Since the introduction of steam also into the districts of Athabasca 

 (1883), and the Mackenzie River (1886), the provision posts of both 

 have not been called upon to furnish more than a bare quota of the 

 quantities of dried meat and pemmican absolutel}' required under the 

 old inland York lx)at system of transportation. The hunting of I'ein- 

 deer has, therefore, largely" declined, no doubt to their increase in 

 num])ers, and the Indians are able to devote more of their attention to 

 the tra])ping of fur-bearing animals. The Eskimos of Anderson and 

 Macken/it>. rivers, however, were never guilty of waste of food in the 



