6o GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



entire subsistence of some of the Indians who inhabit the deso- 

 late regions of the far North, and they would be utterly unable to 

 exist were it not for the immense herds of these deer. This ani- 

 mal furnishes them with food, clothing, tents, fish-spears, hooks, 

 nets, and indeed with all the implements which they use or require. 

 The Esquimaux shoot them, and also take them in traps constructed 

 of ice or snow, and the Indians capture them in pounds, and kill 

 them in large numbers while swimming the rivers. 



It is remarkable that the horns of the caribou vary more than 

 those of any other species of deer, in fact no two adult stags have 

 horns precisely alike. Some very remarkable antlers have been 

 brought to our notice at various times ; one pair so lofty that when 

 reversed on the shoulders of a man five feet ten inches in height, 

 the horns touch the ground. Another pair has thirty-two points, 

 including those on the brow, one of which is palmated, while the 

 other is a mere snag. These horns, with just sufficient skull left to 

 hold them together, weigh thirty-two pounds. Others are perfectly 

 straight, and have the brow-antlers of similar form. The horns of 

 the female are probably never palmated, but are slender and 

 straight. 



A careful investigation into the anatomy of this species will, it 

 is hoped, before long be made. In this way only can its relations 

 to the Woodland variety be ascertained, and the affinities of the 

 North American Caribou with the Reindeer of Europe be deter- 

 mined. 



