XX, THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



with considerable rapidity. You have seen snow-shoes or 

 rackets ? 



C. Richardson showed me a pair : he is an experienced 

 hunter, and is provided with all such things. They are 

 made of a piece of white-ash, or other tough wood, bent and 

 secured in an oval form, and a network of interlaced thongs 

 of deer-skin is stretched across, on which the foot rests, and 

 two straps of leather fasten it on. I tried them on, but 

 I could not walk with them, the rims struck my ankles at 

 every step. 



F. Like most other things, they require practice to be 

 of much service. The deer seem to be aware of their inferi- 

 ority on these occasions, for I have been told that sometimes 

 they will not attempt to run, nor make the slightest effort 

 to escape, until the hunters come up, and pass the knife 

 across their throats. 



C. Is not our common deer the Cervus Virginianm of 

 naturalists ? 



F. Yes : we have only the Virginian deer and the 

 Moose (C.Alces), that I am aware of; though the Caribou, 

 or Reindeer (C, Tarandus), is, I believe, found north of 

 the St. Lawrence. This last is common in Newfoundland. 

 The Moose is the Elk of Europe ; but the " Elk " of the 

 Americans is a much smaller species, though still a very fine 

 animal; it is the Wapiti (C. Wapiti), which is confined to 

 the Western States. There is a remarkable peculiarity 

 which is said to belong to that curious animal, the Prong- 

 horned Antelope of the Rocky Mountains (Antilope Furci- 

 ferj, which I have observed in our common deer. (C. Virg.) 

 It is the singular form and texture of the hair. In winter 

 the hair is very tubular, like a bird's quill, and so inelastic 

 as to crumple on the slightest pressure ; when bent, it crushes 

 into a sharp angle, in which shape it remains : it is ex- 



