THE CARIBOU. 85 



and Woodland Caribou, are; in my opinion, sufficiently 

 positive to lead to the conclusion that they are separate 

 and distinct species. 



When pursued by hunters, the Woodland Caribou 

 almost invariably makes for a swamp, and follows the mar- 

 gin in its course, taking the water, and frequently ascend- 

 ing the nearest mountain, crossing it by a gorge or ravine. If 

 closely pressed i by the hunters— who occasionally follow up 

 the chase four or five days, camping at night on the trail — 

 the hunted animal scales the highest peaks of the mount- 

 ains for security, when the pursuit becomes laborious, and 

 the chances of success very uncertain. 



On one occasion, two hunters followed a small herd of 

 Caribou constantly for an entire week, and when com- 

 pletely tired out they gave up the chase, which was then 

 continued by two other hunters, who at last succeeded in 

 killing two of the animals at long range. Occasionally, 

 however, when fresh tracks are found, and the hunter is 

 well skilled in his craft, Caribou are surprised lying down 

 or browsing, and easily shot. When the snow is not deep, 

 and the inland lakes are covered with ice only, the animal, 

 if closely pursued, runs over the ice with such speed that it 

 is unable to stop if struck with alarm by any unexpected 

 object presenting itself in front. It then suddenly squats 

 upon its haunches, and slides along the glare-ice in that 

 ludicrous position until the momentum ceases, when it 

 jumps up again and moves off in some other direction. 



As a matter of course, when the Caribou takes to the ice, 

 the hunter, if he knows his game, always gives up the 

 chase. Sometimes, when the mouth and throat of a fresh- 

 killed Caribou are examined, they are found filled with a 

 black-looking mucus, resembling thin mud. This sub- 

 stance, however, is supposed to be only a portion of the 

 partially digested black mosses upon which it had fed, 

 probably forced upward into the throat and mouth in its 

 death-struggles. 



If the accounts given of the speed and endurance of the 

 European Reindeer are correct — an animal to which the 



