The Antlers of the Caribou 



When the frost is on the barrens, 

 And the popple-leaves are thinned, 

 And the caribou are drifting 

 Down the wind, 



SO writes one who knows all about how 

 autumn comes to the Tobique barrens, 

 and who claims to know as much as most men 

 about the caribou. But the caribou do not 

 always drift, by any means. They are rather 

 an incalculable folk, these caribou and even 

 in their name one notes their inclination to be 

 contrary ; for the herds which frequent the 

 high, watery barrens of northern New Bruns- 

 wick are not, as one might suppose, the 

 " caribou of the barren grounds," but the larger 

 and warier " woodland caribou." The faithful 

 observer of the manners and customs of this 

 tribe may spend much time one year in learning 

 what he will be constrained to unlearn with 

 humility the next. 



