PIKE’S DESCRIPTION OF THE MIGRATION 103 
“From what I could gather from the Yellow-Knife In- 
dians,” says Mr. Pike in “The Barren Grounds of Northern 
Canada,” “‘and from my own personal experience, it is late 
in October that the great bands of Caribou, commonly known 
as La foule, mass upon the edge of the woods, and start for 
the food and shelter afforded by the stronger growth of pine 
farther southward. 
“Scattered bands of Caribou were almost always in sight 
from the top of the ridge behind the camps, and increased in 
numbers till the morning of October 20, when little Baptiste, 
who had gone for firewood, woke us before daylight with the 
cry, ‘La foule! La foule!’ (‘The throng’). Even in the lodge 
we could hear the curious clatter made by a band of travelling 
Caribou. La foule had really come, and during its passage 
of six days I was able to realize what an extraordinary num- 
ber of these animals still roam the Barren Grounds. 
“From the ridge we had a splendid view of the migration. 
All the south side of Mackay Lake was alive with the moving 
beasts, while the ice seemed to be dotted all over with black 
islands, and still away on the north shore, with the aid of the 
glasses, we could see them coming like regiments on the march. 
In every direction we could hear the grunting noise that the 
Caribou always makes when travelling. 
“The snow was broken into broad roads, and I found it 
useless to try to estimate the number that passed within a 
few miles of our encampment. We were just in the western 
edge of their passage, and afterward we heard that a band of 
Dog-Ribs, hunting some forty miles to the west, were at this 
very time in the last straits of starvation, only saving their 
