NOTES FROM AN ARCTIC JOURNAL. Lyi 
breadth of horn, 1linches. The stomach of these animals is very 
capacious. This old bull had as much in it as would have filled 
four ordinary stable buckets. It consisted entirely of the leaves 
and shoots of Salix arctica and grasses. In none of those 
I examined were any lichens, which is the food usually ascribed 
to these animals. 
During the winter season the Musk-ox is covered with a long 
stapled fine wool in addition to its coat of hair. This wool is of 
a light yellow colour, and of a beautiful silky texture, but at the 
season when we shot the animals very easily detached from the 
hide; indeed, it would not adhere to the skins of any of the 
animals we killed, but came away from it during the process of 
curing. Owing to the great length and softness of this wool* 
the fleece of the Musk-ox, if obtainable in sufficient quantities, 
would be of considerable value, and, if it were possible to re- 
introduce this animal into Great Britain, or to the continent of 
Europe, it would be a most valuable accession to our fauna. No 
doubt from the nature of the lands inhabited by the Musk-ox at 
_the present day it would be a matter of considerable difficulty to 
capture and convey the animals to Europe, but I imagine the 
difficulties in the way are not insuperable. To equip an Arctic 
Expedition simply with a view to capture some young Musk- 
oxen would hardly be a practical suggestion, but these animals 
still wander in considerable numbers amid the barren lands of the 
North American Continent and along the shores of its Frozen 
Ocean. The influence of the Hudson Bay Company extends 
even to those desolate regions, and the acclimatisation of the 
Musk-ox is a matter worthy of the consideration of the gentlemen 
who direct the affairs of that Company in America. In any case 
a living example of the animal would command a great price from 
the zoological societies of Europe. From what I have seen of the 
Musk-ox in a state of nature, it does not appear that there would 
be any great difficulty in domesticating it. Its habit of flocking 
when alarmed by a dog, and facing its foe, would render it 
amenable to guidance, and I am quite sure that the Musk-oxen 
we met with in Grinnell Land might all have been headed and 
brought to bay by one of our Scotch sheep-dogs. 
* According to Richardson (Fauna Bor. Amer.), stockings made from the wool 
were more beautiful than silk ones. 
D 
