HOW TO HUNT CARIBOO. 75 



the atmosphere becomes cooler, it sallies off to the 

 woodland and swamps in search of its favourite lichens 

 and ground shrubs. The shooting of one species of 

 deer so much resembles another, and I have already 

 described so many adventures in pursuit of moose and, 

 hereafter, in the pursuit of the more common Vir- 

 ginian deer, that I will tax the reader's patience no 

 further than to add, that to be successful in pursuit of 

 cariboo, unless when they are swimming the great 

 rivers in their annual migrations, the hunter must be 

 cool and self-possessed, have an extensive knowledge 

 of woodcraft, and powers of endurance to bear fatigue 

 of no ordinary quality. 



The peculiar and varied formations that the horns 

 of the cariboo assume have been the subject of much 

 controversy among the cognoscenti. Why palmation 

 should occur in one antler over the brow and in 

 another at the extremities, has been accounted for by 

 individuals doubtless to their own satisfaction, but I 

 fear not at all so to the general public. For myself, 

 when I have formed a theory in reference to this 

 animal's antlers, and possibly nursed it for some time, 

 I had the misfortune or otherwise to kill a cariboo that 

 annihilated the pretty little structure I had built. 

 Thus the horns here represented, although taken from 

 life, must not be accepted as a stereotyped pattern of 

 the whole family. 



