DEER. 



377 



that elk have been seen as far south as the Ohio, and as far north as the Mackenzie 

 River. Writing in the year 1865, Mr. J. G. Lockhart states that elk were then 

 common over the whole of British America as far north as the barren grounds, 

 although absent from particular localities. Thus they were especially abundant 

 on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, and continued so to Behring Strait, 

 but were unknown on the shores of Hudson Bay in the neighbourhood of York 



A FAMILY OF ELK (& nat. size.) 



Factory. Although specially protected in Ontario, the elk is, however, now 

 rapidly disappearing from the forests of North America ; and this is not to be 

 wondered at, when we learn that some years ago several hundreds of these animals 

 were shot on one occasion in New Brunswick merely for the sake of their hides ; 

 their carcases being left to rot on the ground. Elk are still comparatively 

 common in Alaska, but have more or less completely disappeared from certain 

 districts where they were formerly abundant. As far back as 1881, Mr. Caton 

 wrote, that " they have probably entirely ceased their visits to Newfoundland ; but 



