﻿150 FIELD AND FOREST. 



der wool, which are said to have rivaled in texture the finest silk 

 hose. Previous to this the existance of such an animal had been as- 

 serted, but such claims were looked upon in the light of fables, the 

 authors of which desired a reputation of some sort, prefering that of 

 a munchausen to none at all. 



The hair or fleece is long, thick — brown or black in color — and 

 hangs below the middle of the leg. Underneath this, and covering 

 all parts of the animal is an ash colored wool of exquisite fineness, 

 capable of being formed into the most beautiful of fabrics. It was this 

 close under-fur that furnished the material for M. Jeremie's hose, and 

 is the clothing which enables the musk ox to withstand the inclemency 

 of an Arctic winter, even beyond the 70th parallel of North Latitude. 



The southern range of the animal extends but little if any below 

 the barren grounds, while its northern limit is only bounded by the 

 Polar Sea ; it having been seen in the most northern regions reached 

 by man. Where the Polaris wintered they were seen in great num- 

 bers, along with the raindeer of the barrens, arctic foxes, and hares. 



Although numbers winter in the highest latitudes, by far the greater 

 portion migrate to the verge of the forest-region during the Autumn, re- 

 turning to the shores of the Arctic ocean with the incoming of Spring 

 and populating Mellville Island and the shores of Smith's Sound. 

 Even when there is no ice the musk ox is not restrained from visiting 

 the islands as he is a powerful swimmer, capable of passing over long 

 stretches of water, as shown by Franklin, who found them on the is- 

 lands of York Archipelago long after the ice had disappeared ; a care- 

 ful examination of the island in question had been made but a few 

 days previous, showing no forms of animal life larger than foxes. As 

 the island was three miles from mainland, and more than double the 

 distance from the nearest of its sister islets, no doubt remains that the 

 musk ox is accustomed to swim long distances. 



The weight of the musk ox has, I opine, been over estimated, being 

 given approximately at seven hundred pounds, or nearly thrice that of 

 the caribou. This is doubtless due to its apparent size which is 

 owing to the huge mass of wooly hair with which it is thickly covered 

 giving rise to the statement that it rivals in size the Highland cattle. 



The musk ox measures about five and one half feet from the nose 

 tip to root of the tail. The head is large, with a broad nose, the 

 nostrils being divided by a naked but narrow space. Both sexes are 



