228 Our North Land. 



I must not forget to mention the Oomingnoak of the Eskimos, or 

 the musk-ox, which inhabits the north even up to the seventy-fifth 

 parallel of north latitude, penetrating the ice-bound regions even 

 farther than the hardy Eskimos themselves. It is a fleet and active 

 animal, and traverses the rough, uneven plains with such ease that 

 there is no other animal swift enough to overtake it. It is frequently 

 dangerous to hunters, often charging upon the daring Eskimo, and 

 laying him low by one blow from its great horns. 



Its long woolly hair falls almost to the ground in every direction, 

 so that its legs are nearly altogether concealed, as also its wonderful 

 head. The horns are extremely large at the base, and form a kind 

 of shield. They then sweep boldly downward, and are again hooked 

 upward at the points. The horns of the female are set very widely 

 apart from the sides of the forehead, and are slightly curved. The 

 head is entirely covered with long hair, except at the end of the 

 nose. 



Its flesh is strongly perfumed with musk, especially in certain 

 months of the year, but in the winter season the Eskimo finds it 

 wholesome and desirable food. It is usually very fat. It is not a 

 large animal, but the great length of its hair makes it appear much 

 larger than it is. Its colour is a yellowish brown. They roam over 

 the far northern barrens in hundreds of thousands, and multitudes 

 are captured annually by Eskimos, their flesh appropriated for food 

 and their skins brought to the trading stations where they are always 

 in good demand. For sleigh robes the skin of the musk-ox is prized 

 higher than that of the well-known buffalo. 



The skins of these and other animals that I have not mentioned 

 are taken in their season by Eskimos and barren-ground Indians 

 and by the Indians still further to the south, and exchanged for 

 powder, shot, tobacco, guns and other necessaries of native life, at 

 the Hudson's Bay posts, which are scattered along from the coast of 

 Greenland to the Pacific slope in the far north, and by this means 

 the fur trade, which has been going on for upwards of three cen- 

 turies, has been conducted to the great advantage of the far-famed 

 Hudson's Bay Company. 



As an indication of the volume of the fur business, even in these 



