THE CARIBOU. 81 



The Caribou is not a graceful animal, having shorter 

 and thicker legs and a larger head, together with less 

 general symmetry, than most of the family to which it 

 belongs. 



The hair, which in summer is a reddish brown, be- 

 comes rougher and changes to grey in the winter, 

 the throat and belly alone remaining white. Cuvier 

 says,* "II change, en general, du brun^tre au blan- 

 ch^tre et au blanc ; mais en qualite d'animal domestique, 

 ses couleurs ne sont point constantes, et chaque individu 

 a presque les siennes." 



The coat is composed of two kinds of hair : an under 

 one, of a woolly texture, which is very short, and so 

 close that it is difficult to reach the skin, and an upper 

 one of long straight hair of a darker colour. It is a 

 peculiarity of the latter that when rubbed or roughly 

 handled it breaks off short instead of coming out by 

 the roots. The hair under the neck is long and pendent. 

 This animal is much infested in summer with the larvaa 

 of the (Estrus, which breed beneath the skin, causing 

 open wounds, apparently very troublesome and even 

 painful, and so numerous are they at times that the 

 skin is worthless for any purpose of manufacture. As 

 Mr. Ross, before quoted, states, " The only hides service- 



* Ossemens Fossiles, p. 125. Paris. 1835. 

 G 



