XX 



THE MUSK-OX AT HOME 



THE musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) seems to be the miss- 

 ing link between the ox and the sheep. Their teeth are like 

 those of a sheep and their feet like those of the ox. They 

 are said also to have sheep's kidneys, but, although I saw 

 them many times, my ignorance on the general subject 

 of kidneys prevented my recognizing a similarity. In- 

 deed, in appearance, especially when running and with 

 their curling horns, it is not difficult to fancy them a huge 

 well-fleeced old ram scampering off. 



When full grown the musk-ox is about two-thirds the 

 size of a bison and about as large as the average of the 

 English black cattle. 



o 



The Indians estimate the flesh of a mature musk-cow 

 equal to about three Barren Land caribou, and the bull would 

 weigh, I should say, at least two hundred pounds heavier. 



They are gregarious, and travel in herds that number, as 

 near as I could determine from observation and investiga- 

 tion, from ten to twenty. Larger herds of course are 

 seen occasionally, but fifty would be an unusually large 

 number. 



At the time of my visit to the Barren Grounds, i. t\, 

 March and April, we found the bulls and cows together, 

 though the number of cows very largely predominated. 

 One herd we encountered was all bulls ; another all cows, 

 saving a few yearling and two-year-old bull calves. 



