and the Maritime Provinces. 47 



" The caribou is strictly a northern animal, I believe, said the Judge ; 

 " I never heard of any occurring south of Maine." 



" Formerly it was found in northern New York and in Vermont, but it 

 no longer exists there. Alaska is well stocked with them and some of the 

 upper Western States," replied the Doctor, " but I believe the species is 

 not found in the ' Rockies.' " 



" After all, Doctor," said I, " hunting our common deer gives pretty 

 good sport. He is a dainty, handsome fellow, and his wide and general 

 distribution makes him the most important of our large game." 



" It 's the same animal I believe, that we find in Florida," said the 

 Judge. 



" Yes," I replied, " and no species is better known or a greater favorite 

 among hunters. It is the Ccrvus Virginianus of scientists and is very 

 generally distributed, being found in almost every State east of the Missouri 

 river, and is still quite plentiful in some sections, notwithstanding the in- 

 roads that are annually made among its numbers. 



" In a great many localities, however, so persistently has it been pur- 

 sued that where it was formerly abundant it is now quite scarce, and had it 

 not been protected by law its total extirpation would probably in most of 

 the States by this time have become an accomplished fact. In no State is 

 this more apparent than in Maine." 



" Yes," said the Doctor, " deer are as common in Maine as grass- 

 hoppers." 



" True," I continued, " but forty years ago there were but few deer 

 left within its borders ; they had been slaughtered ruthlessly, in season and 

 out, and so scarce had they become that their tracks, when occasionally 

 found, were pointed out as being something quite remarkable, and the 

 hunter who succeeded in getting a deer was considered fortunate in the 

 extreme. 



" It is different now : the strong protective laws which have been 

 enacted are pretty generally enforced, and the deer have increased in such 

 an astonishing degree that they are often seen in numbers about the settle- 

 ments and the hunter has now but little difficulty in obtaining one or more 

 in a day's outing. * 



* Some idea of the remarkable increase of these animals in Maine may 

 be formed when it is noted that the Game Commissioners of that State, in 

 their returns for 1896, report that deer are now found in each of the sixteen 

 counties of the State, and that complaints have even been made by farmers 

 that their crops have been destroyed by them. 



The Commissioners further say that " there is no question but that at 

 least ten thousand deer have been killed in Maine during the year 1 89(3. 

 . . . this is not merely guesswork, but is based on actual count of the 

 numbers transported by the common carriers, and records kept by various 



