122 THE CARIBOO. 



" ' The various bands into which the great herds split 

 up gradually join together, and a district which to-day 

 holds great numbers of these animals may to-morrow be 

 destitute of a single specimen. The cariboo is an ex- 

 tremely shy animal, flying from the neighbourhood 

 of man with instinctive fear. As he needs immense 

 stretches of country for his distant migrations, and as 

 he cannot bear the vicinity of civilization, and requires 

 his communications to be kept open, he will probably 

 soon disappear from those sections where his native 

 forests are becoming circumscribed with a ring of set- 

 tlements, and retire to the north of the St. Lawrence, 

 where an illimitable wilderness stretches northwards, 

 offering a safe asylum. In fact, he has already disap- 

 peared from districts where a few years ago he was 

 abundant. 



" ' It is a curious circumstance that another animal, 

 also noted for its extreme shyness the moose should 

 in these localities take the place vacated by the cariboo, 

 but it is nevertheless true. The moose does not range 

 so much as the former animal, and hence does not 

 require such vast extent of wild country for its sup- 

 port. On the contrary, the moose will increase and 

 multiply in the neighbourhood of roads and settlements, 

 regardless of the distant chopping of the settler's axe, 

 or the roar of the cars along the railway, or the deep 

 bellow of the engine which echoes far through the 

 woods. The slightest scent of approaching man, 

 however, warns the moose to be off; and sharp as is 



