A Musk -Ox Hunt. 329 



Dr. Rae, the celebrated Scotch explorer of this region of the Arctic, 

 also secured large numbers of them. The musk-ox occurs fossil- 

 ized at Escholtz Bay on the north-west coast, and fossil oxen found 

 in different sections of the United States, and which closely 

 resemble the musk-ox, have been described by Dr. Leidy in the 

 Smithsonian Institution's reports. These were clothed in a long 

 fleece, and roamed through the Mississippi Valley just before the 

 great drift period. Fossil musk-oxen exist in Siberia and north- 

 ern Europe ; but their living descendants, of which one species is 

 known, are now strictly confined to the arctic region of the Western 

 continent. 



The musk-ox derives its name from the peculiar odor which it 

 emits, and which to a greater or less extent also pervades the meat 

 of the animal. The younger animals, however, are much milder, 

 and with the calves I have never been able to discern it at all. Much 

 of this odor can be obviated by dressing the animal as soon as 

 killed, especially if it is cold weather, and this rule may be said to 

 be more or less general with all animals and birds having disagree- 

 able odors peculiar to their kind. 



I have said the robes are almost worthless to the natives except 

 for purposes of traffic. They are sometimes used to spread on the 

 snow-bed, as the first layer of skins, in order to protect the snow 

 from the heat of the body; but even here they are not nearly so serv- 

 iceable as the robe of the reindeer, owing to the facility with which 

 the snow can be removed from the latter by a few strokes of a stick. 

 The Ookjoolik, or Ooqueesik-Salik Eskimos of Hayes River, who 

 are not armed, and consequently can procure but few reindeer (whose 

 hide is the universal arctic clothing), often make long boot-leggings 

 and gloves of musk-ox fur, and this gives them a peculiarly wild and 

 savage appearance that contrasts strangely with other natives. The 

 almost total absence of wood in their country — the little they get 

 being obtained by barter with distant and more fortunate tribes — 

 forces them to use the skin of the musk-ox for sledging in their 

 country. The ears and fore-legs of the skin being lashed almost 

 together, a sledge-like front is obtained, and the articles to be trans- 

 ported are loaded on the trailing body behind. Over lakes, rivers, 

 and flat plains, it is equal to wood, but in very uneven ground its 

 pliability is dangerous to fragile loads. 



