THE iMUSK-OX 199 



America, from about ^2'^ north and west to the Mac- 

 kenzie River, 



The Barren Grounds are described as vast treeless 

 wastes; in summer, swampy for the most part, with 

 many low ridges of broken rock ; in winter, snow-cov- 

 ered, but not so deep as to prevent the snow-shoes 

 from catching in many places on the rocks. In winter 

 the thermometer often remains 50 to 60 degrees below 

 zero and a spirit thermometer must be carried if the 

 sportsman desires to know how cold it is. The mer- 

 cury freezes and is of course useless. There is abso- 

 lutely no fuel to be had, and a large part of the sports- 

 man's baggage is wood, to be used to make a little fire 

 for cooking his meals. This is transported on sleds 

 drawn by the dogs, which are used to chase the musk- 

 oxen and hold them until the sportsman arrives within 

 range. The camps are cheerless in the extreme. The 

 hardships to be endured are far greater than those 

 which the sportsman undergoes anywhere else in the 

 world. Mr. Whitney made his trip to the Barren 

 Grounds in the winter and described the trip and its 

 hardships at that season in a series of articles which 

 were published in Harper s Magazine and which after- 

 ward were printed in the book " On Snow-shoes to 

 the Barren Grounds." 



In summer the journey is made by canoe, but to 

 secure the game the sportsman must leave the streams 

 and make excursions into the vast marshes, where the 

 mosquitoes and other insects are so numerous and 

 so hungry as to endanger life. 



By far the best and safest way to get the musk-ox is 

 either to organize a polar expedition or accompany 



