Zoological Explorations. 



241 



■wholesale slaughter. The "musquash" plays a prominent 

 part in the Swampy Cree account of the creation, and appears 

 in much of the folk lore of that region. 



Ta:mias asiaticus Gmelin. Chipmunk. Common. One 

 specimen secured. 



SciURUS HUDSONius Erxlcbcu. Chickaree or red squirrel. 

 So far as we could ascertain, the only representative of the 

 genus in the Saskatchewan country, and the most conspicuous 

 rodent around the Post of Grand Rapids, where it is even 

 more impudent and inquisitive than our common species. 

 Being seldom shot or molested by the natives, and spry 

 enough to keep out of the way of the pine marten, it thrives 

 and multiplies with httle let or hindrance. Hawks are not 

 numerous, and so the little chickaree, free from the competi- 

 tion of the larger squirrels, and not greatly persecuted by 

 enemies, is getting along very well in the struggle for exist- 

 ence, and will doubtless survive nearly, if not quite, all the 

 larger mammalia of that region, even the "musquash," which 

 is so unfortunate as to be useful to man in furnishing an 

 important item in the Hudson's Bay Company's annual ship- 

 ment. A fit example of the survival of the insignificant. 



Order UNGULATA. 



Cervus canadensis Erxleben. Wapiti. American 

 Elk. Mr. Angus McLean, of the Hudson's Bay Company, 

 informed me that these animals were to be found within about 

 thirty miles of Grand Rapids, and Mr. Hine, of Winnipeg, 

 said that they were most numerous "between the lakes," that 

 is, between Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. 



Alce alces (L). Moose. This noble animal is the 

 most common herbivore in the Saskatchewan region. Num- 

 bers are killed yearly near Grand Rapids, and two speci- 

 mens, male and female, have been sent to our museum by 

 an Indian hunter employed at the time of our visit. The 



