96 Bia GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



region, the Barren-ground Caribou has derived its com- 

 monly received name. I extract the subjoined foot-note 

 from "Billings' Naturalist and Geologist," to which excel- 

 lent work I am indebted for much of the valuable informa- 

 tion contained in this sketch: 



Note. — The Reindeer have eight incisors, or front teeth, in the lower 

 jaw, and twelve molar, or grinding teeth, six on each side. In the upper jaw 

 they have no incisors, but two small canine teeth and twelve molars, six of the 

 latter and one of the former on each side. 



Tarandus,& Reindeer; Arcticm (Latin), Arctic. In the "Natural History 

 of New York," this animal is called Rungifer Tarandiu; in Audubon and 

 Bachman's "Quadrupeds of North America," Rangifer Caribou; by many 

 authors, Cervus Tarandus; by the Cree Indians, Attehk; by the Chippewyans, 

 Ettldn; Eskimos, Tooktoo; Greenlanders, Tukta; French Canadians, Carrebceuf, 

 or Caribou — literally, a "square ox." 



This animal is not, however, strictly confined to the ter- 

 ritory above mentioned as its persistent and perpetual hab- 

 itat. In the autumn it migrates toward the south, and 

 spends the winter in the woods; and again, toward the 

 northwest, it ranges nearly across the continent. 



This is the Deer so frequently mentioned by the hardy 

 adventurers who have periodically, and often disastrously, 

 braved the dangers of the Arctic Seas in search of the 

 northwest passage. Its flesh and skins have kejpt many 

 of them from starvation, and furnished the most servicea- 

 ble and appropriate clothing to protect them from the 

 intense cold of the Arctic regions. 



From accounts furnished by many travelers who have 

 visited the Barren Grounds, we learn that Tarandus Arcti- 

 cus is a small Deer, the largest, when in the highest condi- 

 tion, weighing only from ninety to one hundred and twenty 

 pounds, exclusive of the offal. In proportion to its size, 

 its legs are shorter and stouter than those of the common 

 Deer, and the nose and front part of the head resemble 

 more the head of a cow than that of any of the more grace- 

 ful members of the genus Cermdce. The horns are slender, 

 and palmated at the crown. Near their base they send out 

 brow-antlers, sometimes of singular irregularity, w^hich 

 incline downward in front of the forehead, and are flat- 



I 



