THE MUSK-OX. 515 



as they have been observed to arrive on Melville Island in the 

 middle of May, crossing the ice from the southward, and to 

 take their departure towards the end of September, 



The musk-ox is about the size of the small cattle of the 

 Scottish Highlands. Captain Franklin says, that the largest 

 musk-ox killed by his party did not exceed three hundred 

 pounds in weight j but Dr. Richardson gives that as its general 

 weight, exclusive of the offal. Like most of the polar animals, 

 its weight seems to vary according to the opportunities it has 

 of attaining a good bodily condition j hence the average weight 

 of each of the bulls which were killed during Parry's second 

 voyage, was seven hundred pounds, and the average quantity 

 of the solid meat yielded by each of them amounted to about 

 four hundred pounds, and they stood ten hands and a half 

 high at the withers. The general colour of the musk-ox is 

 brown, more or less grizzled about the shoulders, and there 

 is a brownish white mark like a saddle on the back j the whole 

 of the body is covered with long, thick, woolly hair, which hangs 

 nearly down to the ground ; it hangs in masses from the throat, 

 like a mane -, it is long and matted on the neck, shoulders, and 

 haunches -, underneath the outer coat is a layer of exceedingly 

 fine wool 3 the limbs, which are short and very muscular, are 

 covered with close brown hair, unmixed with wool ; the hoofs, 

 and the impressions they leave in the snow, are very like those 

 of the rein-deer j the horns are broad and massive at the base, 

 where they cover the brow and entire crown of the head, and 

 those of the bull are in complete contact at their base throughout 

 its whole breadth, but those of the cow do not quite touch 

 each other j the head is large and broad ; the ears are short 

 and nearly concealed by the long hairs of the head ; the eyes 

 are rather large, with greatly projecting orbits -, the nose is 

 very obtuse ; the nostrils are oblong slits ; there is no naked 

 muzzle as in our ox, for the upper lip, which is destitute of 

 a furrow, and the chin, are covered with a close coat of short 

 white hairs, and in this absence of a naked muzzle it presents 

 a point of alliance to the sheep and the goat, although in 



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