ioo The Musk-ox 



the head on his way down the Mackenzie River, 

 several years ago. Warburton Pike holds the 

 two next heads, one n by 26|, and the other 

 ii by 24|. The largest head I killed is rather 

 remarkable in respect to length of horn and thick- 

 ness of the boss. Indian hunters who saw it, at 

 all events, considered it most unusual. It meas- 

 ures ii J by 27^; width of crevice, i^- inch; thick- 

 ness of boss at crevice, 3f inches. 



The flesh of the musk-ox is exceedingly tough, 

 and by no means pleasing to the taste, especially 

 in the rutting season (August and September), 

 when it is practically uneatable. There is a cer- 

 tain musky odor, but it is not so pronounced as 

 generally said to be. In fact the only distinct 

 musk-ox odor is got from breaking and crushing 

 the dry dung. -As indicative of this queer crea- 

 ture, I may add that musk-ox dung is but very 

 little larger than and of very near the shape and 

 color as that of the large hare. The flesh of the 

 cow is by no means choice, but it is not bad; 

 the flesh of the calf I found to be rather tasteless. 

 The unborn calf is considered quite a delicacy, 

 of which my Indians did not deny themselves 

 merely because we had no cooking fire. They ate 

 it raw, just as they took it from the mother's 



