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THE STORY OF THE MUSK-OX. 



of these two animals are so much alike, that it requires the eye of an experi- 

 enced hunter to distinguish them. 



The musk-ox is about two-thirds the size of the American bison, but 

 from its long coat of hair looks larger than it really is. In appearance the 

 animal has been compared to a large hairy ram ; and it resembles the sheep 

 in the marked convexity of the profile of the face and the hairy muzzle. 



The musk-ox feeds on grass and moss during one part of the year, and 



HEAD OF BULL MUSK-OX. 



on lichens during the other part. Notwithstanding the shortness of its 

 limbs, it gallops with great speed, and the facility with which it climbs moun- 

 tains can only be compared to that of goats. 



Occasionally the Esquimaux undertake an expedition into the interior for 

 the purpose of hunting the musk-ox for the sake of its warm fur, which is 

 used either for their own bedding, or as an article of barter. The animals are 

 hunted by means of dogs, each hunter taking two or three of these animals 



