NORTHERN OCEAN 339 



This cannot, however, always be the case ; for to the North 

 of Churchill they, in general, live a forlorn life all the Winter, 

 and are seldom seen in pairs till the Spring, when they begin 

 to couple ; and generally keep in pairs all the Summer. They 

 always burrow under-ground to bring forth their young ; and 

 though it is na[363]tural to suppose them very fierce at 

 those times, yet I have frequently seen the Indians go to their 

 dens, and take out the young ones and play with them. I 

 never knew a Northern Indian hurt one of them : on the 

 contrary, they always put them carefully into the den again ; 

 and I have sometimes seen them paint the faces of the young 

 Wolves with vermillion, or red ochre. 



The Arctic Foxes -^ are in some years remarkably Foxes of 

 plentiful, but generally most so on the barren ground, near colours, 

 the sea-coast. Notwithstanding what has been said of this 

 animal only visiting the settlements once in five or seven 

 years,^ I can affirm there is not one year in twenty that they 

 are not caught in greater or less numbers at Churchill ; and I 

 have known that for three years running, not less than from 

 two hundred to four hundred have been caught each year 

 within thirty miles of the Fort. They always come from the 

 North along the coast, and generally make their appearance at 

 Churchill about the middle of October, but their skins are 

 seldom in season till November ; during that time they are 

 never molested, but permitted to feed round the Fort, till by 

 degrees they become almost domestic. The great numbers of 

 those animals that visit Churchill River in some years do not 

 all come in a body, as it would be impossible for the fourth 



P Vulpes lagopus i?tnuitus Merriam. This name is applicable to the 

 Arctic foxes of the American mainland. They are larger than and differ in 

 cranial characters from the typical animal of Lapland.] 



[^ See Pennant, "Arct. Zool.," i. p. 43, 1784, where this statement is credited to 

 Mr. Graham. While Hearne is probably right about the foxes appearing every 

 season, yet at intervals of a few years there is an incursion of more than ordi- 

 nary numbers, and on these occasions the species reaches farther south than 

 usual.] 



