I 



THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 99 



This animal whose fur is much finer than that of the buffalo is be- 

 coming very rare and the skins will soon be absolutely unobtainable. 



One of the leading fur merchants in New York, who deals 

 exclusively in raw furs, and through whose hands more 

 musk-ox skins pass, perhaps, than through those of any- 

 other firm, in response to my inquiries courteously supplied 

 me with the following information, in November, 1916, re- 

 garding the trade in musk-ox robes: 



Most of these goods are brought down by whalers, some of which go 

 into San Francisco or Seattle, and others into New Bedford [Mass.]. 

 Also the Hudson's Bay Co. collects a fair quantity every year. 



I personally have had a vessel up on the Hudson Bay for quite a few 

 years, and we collect a few from the height-of-land which is situated 

 about 100 miles northwest of Wager River. These animals are becoming 

 more and more extinct, as, ten years ago, if you wanted to get a quan- 

 tity you would only have to go up to that country and you could get them, 



but the parcel we sold Messrs. [a Montreal firm], about 160 skins, 



represented three or four years' collection; so there is no doubt but what 

 they will get scarcer. 



The Hudson's Bay Company has very kindly furnished 

 me with a statement showing their annual returns of musk- 

 ox skins from 1864, which may be taken as a good criterion 

 of the extent to which the musk-oxen were hunted for their 

 skins. From 1864 to 1878 the number of skins received by 

 the company did not exceed 200 annually. From that year 

 the number increased until 1881, when over 600 were re- 

 ceived. In the following eight years the numbers decreased, 

 and then rose again in 1890 to over 1,400 skins. The high- 

 est level was reached in 1892, when nearly 2,000 skins were 

 received. Since that year there has been an almost steady 

 dechne in the number, the lowest level being in 1907, when 

 less than 100 skins were received, and only once, that is 

 1912, has the number slightly exceeded 200. We have no 

 record of the large number of musk-ox skins taken out an- 



