THE CARIBOO, OR REINDEER. 97 



expanses of water. To enable them to do this in tlie winter, 

 the frog of the foot is ahnost entirely absorbed, and the edges 

 of the hoof, now quite concave, grow out in sharp ridges, 

 each division on the under surface presenting the appearance 

 of a huge mussel-shell, and serving the office of natural 

 skates. So rapidly does the shell increase, that the frog does 

 not fill up again till spring, when the antlers bud out. With 

 this singular conformation of the foot, it has a lateral spread ; 

 and an additi(jnal assistance for maintaining a foothold on 

 slippery surfaces is given by numerous long, stiff bristles 

 which grow downward at the fetlock, curving over entirely 

 between the divisions. The cariboo is thus enabled to proceed 

 over the snow, to cross frozen lakes, or ascend icy precipices, 

 with an ease which places him, when in flight, beyond the 

 reach of all enemies, except perhaps the nimble and untiring- 

 wolf 



The cariboo is essentially a migratory animal. Tlicrc are 

 two well-defined periods of migration, in the spring and 

 autumn. Throughout the winter it appears also seized with 

 an unconquerable desire to change its residence. One day it 

 may be found feeding quietly through the forests in litth^ 

 bands, and the next, perhaps, all tracks show a general move 

 in a certain direction. The animals join the main herd after 

 a while, and entirely leaving the district, travel toward new 

 feeding-grounds. Though often found in the same woodlands 

 as the moose, they do not enjoy each other's company. In 

 severe winters the cariboos travel to the southernmost limits 

 of their haunts, and even sometimes enter the settlements. 

 Not being aquatic, like the moose, to avoid the flies in 

 summer^ they ascend the mountain ranges, where they can 

 be free from tlicir attacks. The hunter, however, follows 



(379) 7 



