NO. 1^05. ^fAMMALS OF NOIiTUWEST rElUUTOlUES—MACFARLANE. 689 



erally close together in an attitude of defense. Wliile facing you their massive 

 liorns so effectually shield every vital part that it is useless to lire, and therefore a 

 single s]>ortsnian nuist wait until their jjatience is exhausted and they alter theii- 

 position; hut it is desirahle to get iK^hiutl a l)lock of glassy ice, a rock, or some 

 rough ground, where they can lujt charge straight at you, whicrh we liave known them 

 to do l)efore, as well as after being fired at. I once came across a solitary old bull 

 M'hich instantly faced me, spent a few seconds rubbing his horns against his fore 

 legs (a sure sign that mischief is brewing) and ruslied on nie at full speed; 1)nt 1 had 

 taken the precaution so to approach him that I waa able to shoot him when he halted 

 on the brink of the ravine down which I had retreated. 



McCliMtock further siiy.s that three or four sportsmeu may statiou 

 themselves alK)ut a herd at a distanee of Ti> or 80 yards, and then pick 

 off the restless ones lirst, which so oreatly bewilders the remainder 

 that the}^ are easily secured. He was himself one of three who thus 

 shot down a herd of ten in three or four minutes. No Avonder, there- 

 fore, that be ardently longed for a similar experience at Fort Kennedy, 

 as it would haAe furnished the crew of his vessel with fresh meat every 

 day for three months, but unfortunately not an animal could l)e seen. 

 In the vicinity of Fort C'onoer, Lady Franklin Bay, (rrinnell Land, 

 in latitude Si -i-t' north and lonoitude 04 45' west, General (ireely, 

 U. S. Army, conunander of the American expedition, secured 103 

 examples of the musk ox. He oives latitude 88 3' north as the high- 

 est point where traces of this aniuial were observed by Lieutenant 

 (Capta in) Loc k wood , 



One or two writers have said that lichens form an important item 

 in the diet of the musk ox, l)ut (Ireely is positive (and I ai^ree with 

 him) that none of his party e\'er ol)served them eating 't^V, while the 

 stomaclis of a large numl)er examined by him did not contain ti trace 

 thereof. The contents clearly demonstrated that they fed on dwarf wil- 

 low, saxifrages, and grasses. They use their hoofs in digging for these 

 when the ground is covered with snow. There must, however, ])e fairly 

 good pasturage in certain fertile spots amid the genei'ally desolate 

 and sterile lands situated in high latitudes, similar to that described by 

 Doctor Armstrong as occurring on Baring Island, or it would ))e utterly 

 impossible for reindeer and nuisk oxen to subsist there, as man3'd<> all 

 the year round. Of course, no such food scarcity exists on continental 

 America, even in the so-called ''P)arren Grounds.''' Like all wild 

 animals, the nuisk ox in winter quenches its thirst by eating snow. 



As spring advanced, the nuisk oxen of the Anderson country migrated 

 northward. The females are said to produce one, and sometimes two, 

 at a l)irth. The company's posts at which skins are usually ti'aded 

 are Fort McPherson (from the eastern coast Eskimos), Forts (Jood 

 Hope and Norman (from the Anderson Eskimos and fi-om post 

 Indians who specially hunt them), Rao and Resolution on (rreat Slave 

 Lake (from Indian hunt(>rs), Lac du Brochet, Reind<>er Lake (from the 



