The Musk-ox 97 



three hundred to three hundred and fifty pounds; 

 the bull may go as much as two hundred pounds 

 heavier. They travel in herds varying from half 

 a dozen to thirty or forty. Some authors have 

 referred to "vast herds," no doubt confusing 

 musk-oxen with caribou. Fifty would be a large 

 herd, and I suppose from ten to twenty would 

 fairly represent the size of the average herd. As 

 a rule, such a sized herd would have one or two 

 bulls. I found herds that were all bulls, others 

 that were all cows. 



The robe is of a very dark brown, which seems 

 black against the snow, and the hair all over 

 the body is coarse and long, reaching down 

 below the belly to the knees (especially long 

 on the rump, where I measured some that was 

 fifteen to twenty inches), and under the throat 

 it hangs down as a thick mane. There appears 

 to be a decided tendency to a hump, which is 

 emphasized by the shorter stiffish hair that 

 covers shoulders and the base of the neck. 

 And there is a saddle mark of a dirty grayish 

 white. Underneath this hair and over all the 

 body grows a coat of mouse gray wool of fine 

 texture, which protects the animal in winter and 

 is shed in the summer. No wool grows on the 



