246 Natural History Bulletin. 



monest fox of the region. I saw beautiful skins of this animal 

 at Winnipeg, and was told that the Indians received five dol- 

 lars apiece for them. 



Urocyon cinereo-argentatus. (Schreber). Gray Fox. 

 Common, but known under several names to the hunters; for 

 example: ",^rfl'_>' ybA%" '■'■ cross fox ^'' '•'■ silver fox ^'' '■^ black fox,''^ 

 etc. The Indians are said to get fifty pounds for a good silver 

 fox skin. If I remember rightly, only one of these rare skins 

 was brought in to Grand Rapids during the season of '90-91. 



Canis lupus. (L.). Wof. The wolves of this region 

 are certainly much larger than in more southerly countries. 

 Mr. Hine of Winnipeg has some huge specimens which look 

 fully a third larger than the largest of our timber wolves. 



Canis familiarias. (L-)- -Esquimaux Dog. Although 

 not an indigenous species, the esquimaux dog, or " Huskie," 

 is such a conspicuous feature of the region, that an account of 

 the fauna is not complete without some notice of this interest- 

 ing and useful animal. The impression usually conveyed by 

 the description of travellers is that the esquimaux dog is not a 

 handsome animal, but some of the " Huskies " seen by us were 

 among the noblest looking and finest developed dogs we ever 

 saw. They are often pure white, and as large and heavy as 

 the average Newfoundland, with erect ears and sharp muz- 

 zles, giving them an air of intelligence, which does not belie 

 the real character of the animal when he has a chance to cul- 

 tivate his wits. The Indians club and abuse their dogs merci- 

 lessly. I have repeatedly seen the squaws throw ladles of 

 boiling water over the dogs when the half-famished creatures 

 looked too longingly at the "toski," or kettle. The dogs are 

 the only draft animals throughout an immense stretch of terri- 

 tory in British America, and are used as pack animals in the 

 summer. We passed a family of Swampy Crees "on the 

 move," and a strange procession it was, wending its silent 

 wa}^ through the sombre forest. First came the old man, 

 about seventy years of age, apparently, with his canoe on his 



