THE BUFFALO OR BISON 127 



Northwest Mounted Police into the buffalo country was in- 

 augurated, and some resident hunters were engaged as 

 special constables. 



In 1909 Corporal Mellor of the R. N. W. M. PoHce, en- 

 gaged on a patrol into the buffalo country southwest of 

 Smith Landing, ''found buffalo tracks very numerous at 

 Beaver Lake and also on Big Salt Prairie, at Hay Lake and 

 about Peace Point." In the district named, Corporal Mel- 

 lor was able to get within five yards of a band of about 

 seventy-five buffalo and obtained a good look at them. 

 He says in his report: ''Owing to the fact that many of 

 them were hidden from view in the bush, I was unable to 

 count them correctly. Those nearest to view were nine 

 large bulls, all splendid animals and rolling [inj fat. I saw 

 only four calves in the band although there may have been 

 more in the bush, but the guide, after examining the tracks, 

 told me that there were no more. ..." 



In the sunmaer of 1910 Sergeant Mellor, accompanied by 

 Constable Johnson, ascended Big Buffalo River from Sul- 

 phur Point on Great Slave Lake to Buffalo Lake. The main 

 object was to determine as far as possible the northern 

 boundary of the wood-bison habitat. As a result of this 

 exploration Sergeant Mellor concludes that the wood bison 

 never range as far as Buffalo Lake, nor across the Caribou 

 Hills, neither do they reach Great Slave Lake at any point; 

 on the other hand, they come close to Slave River from a 

 point about fifty miles below Fort Smith, right up to Peace 

 River, and also reach Peace River, at any rate as far as 

 Jackfish River. Their habitat would therefore appear, he 

 says, to be bounded on the west by the Caribou Mountains, 

 on the south by Peace River, on the east by Slave River, 

 and on the north by an imaginary line drawn from Caribou 

 Mountains on the west to Slave River on the east, touching 

 the latter at about Point Ennuyeuse, and the former about 

 fifty miles south by Buffalo Lake. The buffalo have, so far 



