MUSK-OX. 



211 



and the temperature lowest, and it inhabits that country and North Greenland 

 throughout the year. " The musk-oxen travel in herds, and it is but an exception 

 when one of them is found alone. This herding gives them a better chance to 

 defend themselves against their one enemy, the Arctic wolf, and also gives them 

 through close contact, additional warmth and protection against cold and winds. " 



Occasionally, we are also informed by Mr. Biederbeck, the Eskimo 

 undertake an expedition into the interior for the purpose of hunting 

 the musk-ox for the sake of its warm pelage, which is used either for their own 

 bedding, or as an article of barter. The animals are hunted by means of dogs, each 

 hunter taking two or three of these animals with their sledge-traces attached, and 

 thus allowing himself to be pulled along till within a short distance of the quarry. 



Hunting. 



The difficulty is then to slip the dogs at the right moment without allowing their 

 traces to drag behind them, and thus be liable to be trodden on by the bayed musk- 

 oxen ; but clever hunters obviate this by tying the traces in a bundle on the backs 

 of the dogs just before they are slipped. When bayed and surrounded, the members 

 of the herd are shot down by the score, the great object being to kill each animal 

 outright, as otherwise there is great danger of its struggles inducing a stampede 

 among the herd, which would involve another hunt. Sometimes, however, the 

 herd, even after having made a bolt, will return to the spot where their comrades 

 have fallen. When scenting danger, the musk-oxen, says Mr. Biederbeck, " always 

 retreat to some elevation near by, and upon the approach of the enemy they form 

 in a perfect line, their heads toward their foe ; or, if attacked at more than one 

 point, they form a circle, their glaring, blood-shot eyes restlessly watching the 



