﻿ALLEX.] 
  FORMER 
  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION. 
  481 
  

  

  and 
  thence 
  westward 
  through 
  Lakes 
  Ontario 
  and 
  Erie, 
  only 
  heard 
  of 
  

   their 
  existence 
  on 
  the 
  southern 
  shore 
  of 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  he 
  himself 
  coasting 
  

   along 
  the 
  northern 
  shore. 
  Concerning 
  the 
  game 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  border- 
  

   ing 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  he 
  says, 
  " 
  Water-fowl 
  swarmed 
  everywhere 
  : 
  I 
  cannot 
  

   say 
  there 
  is 
  such 
  Plenty 
  of 
  Game 
  in 
  the 
  Woods, 
  but 
  I 
  know 
  that 
  on 
  

   the 
  South 
  Side 
  there 
  are 
  vast 
  Herds 
  of 
  wild 
  Cattle."* 
  Again 
  he 
  says, 
  

   " 
  But 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  leagues 
  [from 
  Detroit 
  River], 
  inclining 
  

   towards 
  the 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  to 
  the 
  South 
  West, 
  one 
  sees 
  vast 
  Meadows 
  

   which 
  extend 
  above 
  a 
  hundred 
  Leagues 
  every 
  Way, 
  and 
  which 
  feed 
  a 
  pro- 
  

   digious 
  Number 
  of 
  those 
  Cattle 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  already 
  mentioned 
  sev- 
  

   eral 
  Times-"t 
  He 
  gives, 
  however, 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  "chase 
  "in 
  Can- 
  

   ada, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  describes 
  the 
  method 
  of 
  hunting 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  but 
  the 
  

   locality 
  is 
  specified 
  as 
  " 
  the 
  Southern 
  and 
  Western 
  Parts 
  of 
  ISTew 
  France, 
  on 
  

   both 
  Sides 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi,"^ 
  which 
  was 
  then 
  generally 
  called 
  Canada. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  Voyage 
  of 
  Father 
  Simon 
  Le 
  Moine 
  to 
  the 
  coun- 
  

   try 
  of 
  the 
  "Iroquois 
  Ouondagoes" 
  in 
  1653-54 
  we 
  find 
  what 
  at 
  first 
  sight 
  

   seems 
  to 
  be 
  indisputable 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  at 
  the 
  

   eastern 
  end 
  of 
  Lake 
  Ontario, 
  in 
  both 
  New 
  York 
  and 
  Canada. 
  In 
  this 
  

   account 
  we 
  find 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  "At 
  the 
  other 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Rapid 
  § 
  I 
  per- 
  

   ceived 
  a 
  herd 
  of 
  wild 
  cows\\ 
  which 
  were 
  passing 
  at 
  their 
  ease 
  in 
  great 
  

   state. 
  Five 
  or 
  six 
  hundred 
  are 
  seen 
  sometimes 
  in 
  thesQ 
  regions 
  in 
  one 
  

   drove." 
  ^ 
  In 
  the 
  "Relation 
  de 
  la 
  Nouvelle 
  France 
  en 
  PAnnee 
  1665, 
  

   we 
  find 
  the 
  following 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence 
  River 
  : 
  " 
  This 
  is 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  rivers 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  seen, 
  whether 
  we 
  regard 
  

   its 
  beaut^y 
  or 
  its 
  convenience, 
  for 
  we 
  meet 
  there 
  almost 
  throughout, 
  a 
  

   vast 
  number 
  of 
  beautiful 
  Islands, 
  some 
  large, 
  others 
  small, 
  but 
  all 
  cov- 
  

   ered 
  with 
  fine 
  timber 
  and 
  full 
  of 
  deer, 
  bears, 
  wild 
  coivs,** 
  which 
  supply 
  

   abundance 
  of 
  provisions 
  necessary 
  for 
  the 
  travelers, 
  who 
  find 
  it 
  every- 
  

   where, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  entire 
  herds 
  of 
  fallow 
  deer."tt 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  here 
  a 
  term 
  {vacJies 
  sauvages) 
  employed 
  which 
  was 
  often 
  used 
  

   by 
  the 
  early 
  French 
  writers 
  to 
  designate 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  and 
  also 
  the 
  ac- 
  

   count 
  of 
  large 
  herds 
  being 
  seen, 
  which 
  seems 
  still 
  further 
  to 
  imply 
  that 
  

   the 
  animals 
  were 
  unquestionably 
  buffaloes, 
  yet 
  the 
  locality 
  is 
  one 
  which 
  

   was 
  frequently 
  passed 
  over 
  by 
  travellers 
  during 
  the 
  previous 
  fifty 
  years, 
  

   not 
  one 
  of 
  whom 
  mentions 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  on 
  the 
  St. 
  

   Lawrence, 
  nor 
  is 
  any 
  mention 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  there 
  made 
  by 
  subse- 
  

   quent 
  writers. 
  The 
  region 
  is, 
  furthermore, 
  a 
  heavily 
  wooded 
  country, 
  

   situated 
  several 
  hundred 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  prairies, 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  most 
  

   easterly 
  known 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo. 
  These 
  facts 
  alone 
  tend 
  to 
  render 
  

   these 
  accounts 
  improbable, 
  but 
  fortunately 
  we 
  are 
  not 
  left 
  in 
  doubt 
  as 
  

   to 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  animals 
  here 
  mentioned, 
  for 
  in 
  the 
  sequel 
  of 
  

  

  * 
  Letters, 
  Goadby's 
  English 
  Ed., 
  1763, 
  p. 
  170. 
  Dodsley's 
  English 
  Edition 
  says 
  " 
  a 
  

   prodigious 
  quantity 
  of 
  Buffaloes" 
  (Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  3). 
  

  

  t 
  Ibid, 
  p. 
  178. 
  Dodsley's 
  Translation 
  says 
  again, 
  " 
  those 
  buffaloes 
  " 
  (Vol. 
  II, 
  p. 
  18). 
  

  

  t 
  Ibid., 
  p. 
  68. 
  

  

  § 
  This 
  locality 
  is 
  just 
  below 
  St. 
  Ignatius, 
  on 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence, 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  Lake 
  

   Ontario. 
  

  

  II 
  " 
  Vaches 
  sauvages," 
  in 
  the 
  original. 
  Relation 
  de 
  la 
  Nouv. 
  France 
  en 
  les 
  Anudes 
  

   1653-54, 
  p. 
  85. 
  

  

  H 
  Documentary 
  Hist. 
  New 
  York, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  31. 
  

  

  " 
  * 
  " 
  Vaches 
  sauvages." 
  Relation 
  de 
  la 
  Nouv. 
  France 
  en 
  Vann6e 
  1665, 
  pp. 
  49, 
  50. 
  Mr. 
  

   J. 
  G. 
  Shea 
  also 
  observes 
  : 
  "The 
  animal 
  called 
  by 
  the 
  Canadian 
  French 
  vacfte 
  sauvage 
  

   was 
  the 
  American 
  elk, 
  or 
  moose," 
  and 
  cites 
  Boucher 
  (Hist. 
  Nat. 
  du 
  Canada) 
  as 
  author- 
  

   ity. 
  " 
  Boucher," 
  says 
  Shea, 
  " 
  expressly 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  buffaloes 
  were 
  found 
  only 
  in 
  

   the 
  Ottawa 
  country, 
  that 
  is, 
  in 
  the 
  far 
  West, 
  while 
  the 
  vache 
  sauvage, 
  or 
  original, 
  and 
  

   the 
  ane 
  sauvage, 
  or 
  caribou, 
  were 
  seen 
  in 
  Canada." 
  — 
  Discovery 
  and 
  Exploration 
  of 
  the 
  

   Mississijypi 
  Valley, 
  p. 
  16, 
  footnote. 
  

  

  tt 
  Documentary 
  History 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  62. 
  

  

  31 
  G 
  s 
  

  

  