FLUCTUATIONS OF FUR-BEARING ANIMALS 215 



ground in many places not quite pleasant to see." Falcons 

 were visibly more numerous and owls had increased some- 

 what. A bear killed on the journey was full of mice. 

 Foxes were abundant, but caribou were still scarce. On 

 the next visit to Labrador in the spring of 1906 the mice 

 had disappeared with the snow. The accompanying change 

 in the wild life was remarkable. "The falcon cliffs were 

 deserted, coast and inland." Ptarmigan were very scarce. 

 In the previous years these game-birds had enjoyed some 

 respite owing to the abundance of mice, and their conse- 

 quent freedom from the depredations of the predatory 

 birds, but, with the disappearance of the mice, they were 

 harried to death. For the first time the hunting-cry of 

 wolves was heard at nights, as they sought the caribou in 

 the absence of the more abundant smaller animals. As 

 Cabot says: ''The bearing of the mouse situation on the 

 human interests of the region is easy to see. It affected all 

 the game, food game and fur. The abundance of mice 

 tended to build up the ptarmigan, which are of vital impor- 

 tance in the winter Uving of the Indians through the whole 

 forested area to the Gulf. Likewise it built up the caribou 

 herd by providing easier game than they for the wolves." 

 The periodic increase and decrease in the abundance of 

 our wild life has a very important economic aspect. It not 

 only affects the life of the Indians and other inhabitants of 

 the north, but also affects the output of furs, the chief 

 natural resource of the greater part of the country. The 

 extent to which the fur trade fluctuates is strikingly shown 

 in the fur returns from year to year. Through the kindness 

 of Mr. W. H. Bacon, late fur commissioner of the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, I have been able to obtain the fur returns 

 of that company covering a long period of years, from 1821 

 to 1914. As this is the chief company obtaining furs in 

 Canada, with posts distributed throughout the country, 

 and particularly in the north, where wild-life conditions are 



