J 



zS . THE ELK AND 



bou * the rain -deer, have not compared nature 

 with the relations or' travellers. Though lmaller, 

 like all the other American quadrupeds, than 

 thole of the Old Continent, they are unqueftion- 

 ably the fame animals. 



We will acquire jufter ideas of the elk and rain- 

 deer by comparing both with the ftag : The elk 



is 



times weigh three hundred, and even lour hundred pounds. 

 This animal commonly frequents open countries. His hair 

 'is long and of a brown colour. His ikin, though not thick, 

 is very ftrong and hard. His flelh is good, but that of the 

 female is moil: delicate; Voyage de la Hontan, torn. i. p. 86. 



* The caribou is an animal with a large muzzle an d long 

 ears. — As his foot is broad, he runs with eafe over the 

 hardened fnow, which diftinguifh.es him from the orignal, 



whole feet always link ; Voyage de la Hontan, torn. i. p. 90. 



The iiland of Saint John is Striated in the great bay of Saint 

 Lawrence; There are no orignals in this iiland ; bat there 

 are caribous, which feem to be another fpecies of orignal. 

 Their horns are not fo ftrong ; their hair is thinner and long- 

 er, and almoft entirely white. Their flefh is whiter than that 

 of the orignal, and makes excellent eating : Defcript dePAtne* 

 rique feptent. par. Detoys, torn. i.p. 202. — The caribou is a kind 

 of ftag, which is very nimble and ftrong ; Voyage de Dier-jille 

 p. 125.— The caribou is not fo tall as the orignal, and its fi- 

 gure partakes more of the afs than of the mule, and equals 

 the ftag in fieetnefs. Some years age, one of them was feen 

 on Cape. Diamond, above Quebec . . . The tongue of this 

 animal is much eftemed; His native country feems to be 

 in the neighbourhood of Hudfon's Bay ; ////?. de la Nouv. 

 France, par le P. Chafjevoix, torn. 3.}). ] 29. — The fineft hunting 

 in North America is that of the caribou. It continues the 

 whole year ; and, particularly, in fprin'g and autumn, we fee 

 them in troops of above three or four hundred at a time. . . 

 The horns of the caribou refemble thofe of the fallow deer. 

 ten firft feen by our failors, they were afraid and ran from 

 them j Lcitres edifiantes recueil. jo. p. 322. 



