CHAPTER XXXIX 



FAREWELL TO THE CARIBOU 



All along the shore of Artillery Lake we saw small 

 groups of Caribou. They were now in fine coat; the 

 manes on the males were long and white and we saw 

 two with cleaned antlers; in one these were of a brill- 

 iant red, which I suppose meant that they were cleaned 

 that day and still blood}'. 



We arrived at the south end of Artillery Lake that 

 night, and were now again in the continuous woods — 

 what spindly little stuff it looked when we left it ; what 

 superb forest it looked now — and here we bade good- 

 bye to the prairies and their Caribou. 



Now, therefore, I shall briefly summarise the informa- 

 tion I gained about this notable creature. The species 

 ranges over all the treeless plains and islands of Arctic 

 America. While the great body is migratory, there are 

 scattered individuals in all parts at all seasons. The 

 main body winters in the sheltered southern third of 

 the range, to avoid the storms, and moves north in the 

 late spring, to avoid the plagues of deer-flies and mos- 

 quitoes. The former are found chiefly in the woods, 

 the latter arc bad everywhere; by travelling against 

 the wind a certain measure of relief is secured, northerly 

 winds prevail, so the Caribou are kept travelling north- 

 ward. When there is no wind, the instinctive habit 

 of migration doubtless directs the general movement. 



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